When Choreography Marries Digital Projection

As a choreographer, I have always had a keen interest in fusing movement with other art forms and in being able to achieve this seamlessly. Each art form is as important as another; therefore making this a reality can be challenging. However, in my work I have discovered that the use of movement with digital projection is one that has a real connection. The two have a symmetry that is aesthetically pleasing, but my work to date had never had a real ‘marriage’ of the two forms. One always came before the other; never did the two coexist to arrive at the same point. During 2016, Illuminos (digital artists www.illuminos.co.uk) and I set about our biggest challenge to date: creating a full-length production that did not just fuse dance with digital, but dance with digital, music and storytelling. Our aim was to create a show based on the myth of Daedalus and Icarus. It would explore the story, highlighting the journey it takes from the ground to the sky and back again. Most importantly the piece was to demonstrate how projection can create the illusion of height and weightlessness, with imagery dictating the movement, and how the movement can dictate the imagery when the journey reverses. In simplest terms we wanted to find a cohesive process that allowed not just one aspect to dictate the other: a happy marriage between choreography and digital projection, all portrayed through our show, Icarus. This article will explore that journey.

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