Choreocinema and the Expanding Eye

Catalog description

In the 1940s, Maya Deren, a trailblazer in choreography, dance, and experimental filmmaking, pioneered the groundbreaking concept of "choreocinema": a genre merging dynamic camera movement with dance. In 1970, media artist Gene Youngblood, penned the influential work "Expanded Cinema"--exemplified by Andy Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable, a revolutionary multimedia performance project melding live rock music and avant-garde film Projections. Today, contemporary artists like Jacolby Satterwhite carry forward this legacy, amalgamating choreocinema and expanded cinema through mediums such as performance, motion capture, and digital animation, to forge immersive installations. Their work resonates with our present era, marked by the ubiquitous presence of screens that have profoundly redefined our perception of reality, corporeal existence, and digital identities. "Choreocinema and the Expanding Eye" offers an immersive exploration of dance film, media installation and live performance using the interplay of time, space, movement and the human body. It introduces the concept of multi-channel installation, inviting students to design participatory multi-sensory environments that are nonlinear, experiential, and activated by live performance. Using digital tools and software, students will explore the art of “dancing for computers'', capturing and transforming choreographed and improvised movement into media projects, as well as choreographing and directing their peers. Students will also orchestrate 'happenings' that blend digital media with real-time artistic expression incorporating spatial and sound design. By the course's conclusion, students will have a strong grasp of the core principles of Choreocinema and the ability to navigate the evolving landscape of contemporary digital media as it pertains to the proliferation of screens around us. Formal training or…