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Technology, Intimacy, Performance and Dance
Research and Thesis
As part of my Masters of Fine Arts studies at Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, I focused on Dance and Technology. I found myself interested in the relationship between technology and intimacy and I questioned how human connections and interactions are affected by technology in performance and daily life. This has become the subject of my thesis . Little did I know that in March 2020 our life will profoundly change with the Covid-19 crisis and how technology, isolation, connection and intimacy would become even more relevant and present in our life.
I observed the place between intimacy and technology that connects and distracts us from one another within the performance-audience perspective as well as in our daily life interactions. As technology continues to advance and consume our world, I questioned how it is affecting us particularly in creating artwork and dance.
In my creative work my goal was to explore those ideas through different art mediums while keeping a connection to movement, technology and intimacy.
Through my research I wanted to question whether the use of technology in dance performances is adding or distracting us from finding a sense of intimate connection between the performance and the viewer. Are we losing the ability to maintain human intimacy in the age of advanced technology?
When I first started the following projects, of course, I couldn’t imagine how Covid-19 will affect our life. Our dependency on the Internet, computers and smart phones is now essential for our daily routines and is how we maintain our connection to the outside world, our friends and family. We are isolated yet able to stay connected. This unfortunate development also brings new meaning to this research and is more relevant than ever.
During my research I presented the following works:
Rewind/Unwind - a two-part performance event that plays between the overload of technologies and the emptiness one can feel with or without it.
(Boxed edition), takes place in a small room with two performers and two audience members at a time. The audience experiences the events while being part of the dance.
(Extend Version),explores the same ideas but places the public back on their seats in the traditional proscenium stage Theater and features five performers together.
X -a duet for two male dancers that explores a meeting between two strangers. A crossroad where hesitation, negotiation and assumptions come to play with flirtation and one’s self image in which boundaries are tested.
Trapped - a video Installation - multi-screen durational video installation that shows the effect of everyday media overload on our daily behavior.
Kiki- A short documentary following a day in the life of Kiara Marie Narvaez (known as Kiki)
Through interviews with notable choreographers: Inbal Pinto, Yasmeen Godder and Sasha Walt, This writing investigates their desire to create a meaningful connection between performers and audience during live dance performance in today’s fast-paced, technology-driven society.