Concept
The Slap of Poseidon is a multimedia dance performance piece that includes sound and video inside a responsive environment. The choreography will interact with embedded switches, algorithmically manipulated soundscapes and video projections, in the attempt to recreate a meditative space for mortality, vulnerability and personal experiences to come together.
The main inspiration for this project came from living the experience of the destruction of the Tsunami of 2004 while sleeping on a beach in South-east Sri Lanka (once known as Ceylon).
The elements of this performance are:
1. A dance choreography I am writing, and will hopefully collaborate on, with dancer/choreographer Lucia Nicolussi Perego from Italy and the Compagnia Era Acquario, which I was a member of until 2000.
2. The audio piece takes natural sounds (rain, underwater earthquake recordings, waves) together with local South East Asian percussion instruments (tablas and drums) and manipulates them through scientific algorithms (the Tsunami algorithm for example) and through the use of live data feeds from websites such as NOAA or USGS.
While I was originally very invested in the idea of learning and studying the science behind this incredible Natural event, I later realized that using such an algorithm didn’t translate well in the audio composition and I opted for the live data instead as a more intuitive and natural algorithm to employ.
3. The video or still imagery, will include wall projections and/or projections on fabric, of the aftermath and of natural elements (bodhi trees, waves) and of people, to dynamically create a set and a stage without resorting to more traditional methods. I would want the video to be a complementary element and not a distraction and therefore I am focusing mostly on the choreography and the audio at the moment to later use the video as a mean to ‘fill in the gaps’ of the narrative.
4. The interactive environment will include a few hidden switches and clues for the dancer to manipulate the lights, audio or video in order to have full control over parts of the performance, while leaving breathing room for improvisation as well. It could be a wearable device (made of an accelerometer and wireless modules) as well as wearable switches and/or a piece of code responsible for the interactivity.
5. There will be also an olfactory element to this performance space, as I am collaborating with a great Italian company leader in olfactory marketing that is helping me develop a sea-ocean scent to act as a memory trigger for the spectators, taking interactivity to a very interesting realm.
The Slap of Poseidon 