~Proceedings ICMCISMCI2014 14-20 September 2014, Athens, Greece
it allowed to get good data even without the need to process
it. The third test had the simplest setup of the explorations
analyzed in this section, and thanks to the cleverness of the
performer it worked fine and provided a rich performance.
A consideration can be made here: simplicity and easiness
of use are rewarding. Throughout BT6 it emerged that simplicity let the human element to be more spontaneous and
expressive.
5. CONCLUSIONS
There are some compelling conclusions that can be drawn
from the work presented in this paper, based on interviews
with circus performers, both the ones directly involved in
the work and professionals in the audience, as well as from
audience comments and reviews in the press.
In studying the method of amplification of the immanent sounds of circus performance, the power of relaying
those sounds to the audience was substantial. A previously narrow channel of information and communication
was opened up, and the positive effects of this were unambiguous. The increased connection between audience and
performer pointed towards many new interesting ways to
include dynamic interactive sounds in circus performance.
Using an off-stage performer as a conduit for interactivity, a known piece of music was manipulated to emulate the
contortions of a performer on stage. Using non-traditional
signal processing on a well known piece of music echoed
the extreme movements on stage and showed how mappings between circus performance and signal processing
can work to highlight certain conceptual or emotional aspects of a performance.
Finally, methods already adopted in dance can be successfully used in circus arts to create expressive performances. The use of an interactive sensor-based motion
sonification system was successful in widening the possibilities of expression in dance-related circus practice.
By using these modes of sonic interaction, the performers automatisms generated by years of training were revisited with a new awareness, and proprioception, allowing all participants to further explore intrinsic expressive
potentials.
However, the strain of using precious rehearsal time for
development of new techniques that emanated from other
sources than those traditional to circus, e.g. software development or microphone adjustment, was felt. This is something that has to be planned for in projects similar to the
one presented in this paper, both in regards to practicalities
like time and resources as well as the increased intellectual
and artistic demands put on the performers.
In summary, the use of interactive sound in circus is an
excellent way to add new channels of expressivity to the
communication between performer and audience.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to extend their gratitude to the circus artists who participated in the work that led to the results presented in this paper. Both those explicitly named
and the other artists and staff involved in making the Gynoides
Project Beta Test performances happen.
Gynoides Project is supported by: Stockholm University
of the Arts, University of Dance and Circus, Stockholms
Stad, Swedish Art Council, Swedish Art Grant Committee.
Gynoides Project is produced by CirkusPerspektiv Sweden.
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