Here is an overview of the concepts behind Pas de Dieu

Stage Layout (Front)

Perhaps the most important aspect of the setup of this piece will be arranging the location of the spotlights so that both shafts of light can be at all times. In order to accomplish this, the stage will be set up with the two spotlights mounted on the ceiling. They will be positioned downstage so as to make the light shafts the most visible to the audience. To greater enhance the sense of a second presence on the stage; fog will be lightly sprayed throughout the space so as to make the spotlights cast shafts of light from the ceiling as opposed to just lighting a spot on the floor. Also the floor of the dance space will be patterned so give the audience a clear sense of depth on the stage.

Stage Layout (Side)

The dance will take place in a rectangular space that will be on the auditorium floor as opposed to up on a stage. The audience will be positioned on risers so as to allow for a clear view of the floor.

Dance

For this project I will be working with Colleen O’Meara. We will be working together on both the choreography as well as coming up with a good algorithm for a realistic invisible dancer. The dance itself will probably contain both set and improvised sections.

Music

Initially the music for this piece will just be on tape, as the major effort in this project will be successfully completing the spotlights. As a second iteration of this piece, however, it would be very nice to have a strong interactive music component. My goal for the music of this performance would be to create the illusion that the dance was choreographed to the music when in actuality it would be the music that would be dynamically fitting itself to the dance.

I think the simplest way to do this would be to find or compose a piece of music that has two main harmonizing voices and has a very coherent and constant background accompaniment. Based on the quality of the movement of the dancer (found by accelerometer or just by examining X Y movement) the volume of one of the two main voices would change, such that when there was no motion, the voice would be silent. The amplitude of the second voice would be controlled by an analysis of the movement of the virtual dancer. Thus you would have a set piece with each voice dynamically corresponding to a dancer’s motion.

Technology

By far the biggest technical hurdle of this project will be the construction of the two robotic spotlights. They will be able to pan and tilt, thus allowing for coverage of the entire stage. The spotlight will be built by mounting a small high-powered spot to an armature that will be controlled by two stepper motors, one for pan, one for tilt.

Basic Robotic Spotlight Design

The diagram above shows an initial design schematic for the robotic spotlight system. It is designed as to minimize the torque necessary to turn each axis (based on the principles of a gimbal system). The final method of turning the second axis will probably end up being some sort of gear-based system.

The brains behind the invisible dancer will be an intelligent agent created that will be able to mimic, mirror, and complement the human dancer in a way that makes sense. The paths that the agent moves will be based on spline interpolation between key points so as to create smoother, more fluid motion. The agent will have a memory of the human dancer’s movements as well as its own to allow for thematic repetition as well as a preference for novelty outside the theme.

Motion tracking for the human dancer can be done using the NATO plugin for Max. Cameras can be placed above (if the ceiling is high enough) or on the sides of the stage to get a good view of the human dancer’s X Y motion. Color tracking can be used, but will be difficult because of the fog and the beam of light itself bleaching out the color. Therefore there must be a proper configuration of light intensity, fog thickness (should be very thin), and a good color costume to track must be found. This will have to be determined by copious experimentation.