Invisible Connections ─ Dance, Choreography and Internet Communities

Invisible Connections examines the use of Internet technologies for collaborative dance and choreography with online communities.

Internet and communication technologies offer dance and theatre new platforms for creating and performing work, with opportunities for remote interaction and collaboration on a scale never before imaginable. Invisible Connections explores methods by which such technologies can facilitate creative collaborations between performers and viewers. It draws upon the work of arts, communications and technology theorists and practitioners, and makes special reference to the author's series of Internet-based choreography projects with online communities from Europe, America and elsewhere around the globe.

This book demonstrates how sharing creative processes between online communities has the potential to enrich the artistic palette and provide an arts-based learning experience for participants. The Cartesian duality of the mindûbody split apparently inherent in remote communications is challenged by the physicality of dancing and choreographing together online. The discussion is focused primarily upon dance, but the underlying approach is founded upon devising processes formulated and formalized in theatre-based contexts. Participants collaborated as 'armchair' choreographers and 'devising' performers using dynamic web sites and online community software in the creation of their art products.

A technical appendix by the software designer complements the main text.

Sita Popat is a Lecturer in Dance at the University of Leeds. Her research interests focus on performance and new technologies, and she is Associate Editor of the International journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media. Her Internet choreography projects have been recognized by the European Commission as an outstanding use of online communications.