Designing in Conversation With Dance Practice

Title of the Paper

Designing in Conversation With Dance Practice

Bibliographic Information

• Thematic Domain: Interdisciplinary research combining dance practice and interaction design
• Keywords: Dance, co-creative design, first-person perspective, embodied design, longitudinal study, sound embodiment (sonification)

Research Background and Problem

• Core Issue: Dance, as a complex embodied practice, is currently documented primarily through audiovisual media or motion capture, which struggle to convey cultural context, movement characteristics, and embodied sensations during motion. This challenge is particularly evident in preserving and transmitting the works of modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan, whose choreographic legacy relies entirely on oral instruction and physical transmission, posing difficulties for long-term preservation and dissemination.
• Significance of the Research: Duncan's choreography and philosophy, which integrate natural movement, music, and profound expression through dance, form the foundation of modern dance. Understanding and digitally preserving her cultural heritage is of great importance to both the dance and design communities, while also advancing innovative experience design in human-computer interaction.
• Research Motivation: The authors aim to explore how design can facilitate the transmission of cultural heritage through deep integration with dance practice, providing new inspiration for embodied interaction design. They also seek to strengthen the dialogue and co-creation between design and performance practices.

Solution

• Overall Approach: The researchers propose a sonification tool, the "sounding scarfs," through long-term engagement with Duncan dance practice, enabling real-time interaction between dancers' movements and sound. This process integrates the experiential qualities and embodied perceptions characteristic of Duncan's dance style.
• Innovations:
  • For the first time, Duncan dance's embodied and historical knowledge is treated as design material.
  • Co-creative design methods are employed to develop sonification tools, enhancing the transmission of dance experiences through real-time auditory feedback.
  • By combining long-term somatic sensitization with interaction technologies, the study emphasizes gentleness and humility in the transmission process.
• Implementation Steps:
  1. Dancers and designers collaborate in learning and transmitting Duncan dance, with the authors immersing themselves in community practices to deeply understand Duncan's dance philosophy and movement characteristics.
  2. First-person perspectives are used to document embodied sensory experiences during dance learning, translating these nuanced experiences into design inspirations through co-creative dialogues.
  3. Development of the "sounding scarfs," incorporating embedded motion sensors, two types of sound designs, and mappings between sound and dance movements.
  4. The dance community is invited to test the tool, analyzing its performance in enhancing activity and sensory experiences.

Research Outcomes

• Specific Results:
  • Two sound designs integrating Duncan's characteristics were developed:
    • Ocean sounds to represent gravity and resonance effects.
    • Whispering and keyword-based sounds to convey continuity and perpetual transformation.
  • The sonification tool successfully enhanced dancers' embodied perception of Duncan's movement qualities, such as continuity, rhythm, and motion propagation.
• Experimental Evaluation and Advantages:
  • Feedback from community dancers revealed:
    1. The interaction stimulated a deeper appreciation of the interplay between dance and music.
    2. The introduction of sound made complex "follow-through movements" easier to perceive (e.g., the aftereffects of motion).
    3. Variations in sound encouraged richer emotional and movement exploration.
  • Compared to traditional recording and training tools, the tool's integration into dance practice was more natural, seamless, and non-intrusive to dancers' experiences.
• Limitations and Future Directions:
  • Some dancers' interaction experiences were influenced by their background knowledge and training, indicating the need for further optimization of system adaptability.
  • Future research plans to expand investigations into "multi-sensory interaction" and collaborate with more dance styles to further validate and promote the technology.

Conclusion

This paper demonstrates how interdisciplinary co-creative design can play an active role in the transmission and perception of dance cultural heritage. The study highlights the value of "humble and slow design" and firmly advocates for maintaining respect for human embodiment and sensory practices in the intersection of art and technology.