Movement Study II is an interactive work for solo dancer and computer. The piece falls into four sections performed wthout a break. In the first and last sections, a slow polyphonic texture is established in which the computer determines tonal material while the dancer controls the volume and timbre of eight drones. In the middle sections, the computer produces the tonal and rhythmic material, while the activity levels of the eight voices are controlled by the movement activity of the dancer This work has been performed by Helen Saunders at the 1997 Aarhus NUMUS festival and by Pernille Fynne at ICMC97 in Thessaloniki, Greece. Mata Sakka presents here the US premier with a new choreographic interpretation.

THE DIEM Digital Dance System
Movement Study II employs the DIEM Digital Dance system developed by Wayne Siegel and Jens Jacobsen at the Danish Institute of Electroacoustic Music (DIEM) in Aarhus, Denmark. The system worn by the dancer measures angles of the danceršs limbs and sends this data to a computer via a wireless transmitter. Software written by the composer using the MAX programming environment interprets the incoming data, allowing the dancer's movements to control and influence the music. In a sense the computer composes the music during the actual performance in accordance with a set of compositional rules set down by the composer. The performer is able to interpret the composition during the performance. For more information on DIEM see http://www.diem.dk. Wayne Siegel will also give a talk on the DIEM Digital Dance system during the Interactive Technologies Day, April 8.

Composed by Wayne Siegel
Choreographed and performed by Mata Sakka

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