The following music track will be used as a guideline for the experimental dance/motion capture session.

The music track is a butchered version of Sergei Prokofievs ‘Dance of the Knights’.  Sergei is probably spinning in his grave but that’s good cause we are going for a dark-like vibe, hah. As you can see the new track name is a play on words.

The performance will follow a dancers personal battle (striving for perfection) with their own internal demons (as if realized and overtaking their body).

0:00 – 0:13 Dancer walks to starting position, takes a deep breath, slowly moves arms and legs into position and as the first bass comes in at 0:13 arms come down and glide into routine.

0:25 – 0:39 More animated part of the routine, less delicate.

0:39 – 0:51 Maybe something went a bit wrong or they do not feel it was good enough, the dancer needs to reset, look at themselves in the mirror and think -> this time I am going to ramp it up, then onto more energy, more perfection, (fast film cuts), more technical difficulty.

0:51 – 1:16 They fall and for a moment they look at both sides of their hands, and then clench them as if to say, I’ll get it this time. Back to upright and in position and again from the top.  When the routine starts again I can start highlighting that there is a black ink that is crawling along their body starting to over take them.

1:16 – 1:23 Technical stuff is going well.

1:23 – 1:29 I think here if we have a repeating piroutte on the horn stabs (I maybe have to accentuate that more in the music track), I can setup the virtual camera on the ‘spotting’ then each time I can have the effect transform their face more and more.

1:29 – 1:55 They go up to the mirror wondering what it is, looking in the mirror directly, side to side inspecting and then a soft touch across the face(i’ll put in some type of effect). I will put in a voiceover saying smething to the effect of “Don’t worry, I am a part of you already,  just let me in, I have the power to make anything happen, I can give you what you want”. And during this period the rest of their of their body transitions, the dancer is watching it around their body and arms and hands taking over, maybe then end up on a pose that is superhero-like or flex.

1:55 – 2:01 Pacing in a circle with a power walk in time with the tempo.

2:01 – 2:07 New routine starts and is very energetic not exactly ballet anymore but has hints of it.

2:07 – 2:21 Much more chaotic, Sia chandalier vibes, high energy, madness taking over, things repeating, wonky, random gyrations and jabs. End on a power pose heavily exaggerated breathing.

The technology being used is pose estimation based on images (video of 8 gopros). For the pose estimation to work well there are the following requirements.

• Make sure the clothing contrasts with the background
• No black clothing (mid tones and colours are good, patterns are fine as long as they are still contrasted with background).
• No loose clothing (no dresses, no baggy pants or loose fitting shirts)
• No hanging straps/ribbons
• No sleeves covering hands
• Get long hair under control (bun it)

• Experimental dance, Experimental music, The Mocap session is experimental technology that’s being trialed.
• Expectations: nobody is stressed out and we all have fun with it.
• Record session will be at the NBS (National Ballet School) Date not set yet.
  
  • Celia Franca Centre Studios
  • 400 Jarvis Street