Hello Digital: New Aesthetics and Forms of Expression in Dance

Dance has arrived in the digital age. Live streams and Zoom rehearsals are the new normal; digital sets and dancing avatars are defining the aesthetics of the future. But is this brave new world merely a tiresome passing fashion, or is it a future we can really look forward to? In this panel, international choreographers introduce works where dance takes place in the digital space in very different ways. They will talk about dancers performing in their own living spaces for audiences in the theatre; viewers participating in interactive online performances via their screens in real time; online platforms making safe spaces available to BIPOC+ artists; motion-capture technologies teaching digital avatars to dance; and finally the possibilities and boundaries encountered in virtual reality. The panel brings together a cross section of the varied aesthetic approaches and expressive forms of contemporary digital dance and discusses – also with the audience – the potentials and limitations of the new liaison between dance and technology.