From capture to texture: affective environments for theatre training in virtual reality (VR)

ABSTRACT

The notion of ‘pre-expressivity' is central to the field of ‘theatre anthropology', explored by Eugenio Barba and his theatre group Odin Teatret. It refers to the elementary level of the energetic dynamics that render an actor's body scenically ‘alive' and 'present'. In the current study, we explore the potential of immersive technologies and bodily interaction interfaces for supporting the transmission of embodied knowledge. We begin by outlining a critical epistemological framework that calls for new accounts of knowledge distribution. We describe the process of mapping different training strands developed by Odin Teatret's actors, using motion capture technology. Further on, we approach the translation of such embodied practices into data and, consequently, into an immersive experience of archival navigation. In our study, we used audiovisual objects as environmental constraints, what we term as immersive archi-textures, and employ Laban efforts applied to motion capture data analysis as a model for qualifying movement patterns. We will base our writings on a particular experiment, which has captured Odin actress Roberta Carreri’s exercise Six States of Water within the virtual archive. In this exercise, the trainee is called to perform a specific score of actions with different qualities of energy, translated as different states of water.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Practicing Odin Teatret’s Archive is an ongoing research project funded by the Flanders Research Institute (FWO), taking place at Ghent University in Belgium. It is an interdisciplinary collaboration between the departments S:PAM (Studies in Performance and Media) and IPEM (Institute for Psychoacoustics and Electronic Music), in association with the Nordisk Teaterlaboratorium, Utrecht University, Manchester Metropolitan University and Aalborg University. Prof. Dr Pieter-Jan Maes and Prof. Dr Christel Stalpaert are the coordinators of the research project and PhD Ioulia Marouda and Adriana La Selva are the researchers activating the project.

2 Odin Teatret is one of the oldest theatre groups in the world, with a tradition of research in embodied practices for more than 50 years. The group was until 2022 the main force of the broader artistic institution known as Nordisk Teaterlaboratorium (NTL) in Denmark, which today is also home to new generations who have built their artistic work in dialogue with Odin's legacy. From November 2022, Odin Teatret has disconnected from NTL and started a new phase of the group’s life with the support of Fondazione Barba Varley and their impressive worldwide network. This new life, however, most likely does not entail the production of new performances. Nevertheless, over these decades, Odin has built up an extensive archive that is a fundamental source of knowledge for creators, academic students, and theatre researchers. For more information about their current projects, visit https://odinteatret.org/.

3 A full account of the specific practices and trainings being captured by this project can be found at the conference proceedings of the 2022 International Symposium for Electronic Arts (ISEA), within the Second Summit on New Media Archiving’s proceedings: https://isea-archives.siggraph.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ISEA2022_Proceedings-of-the-Second-Summit-on-New-Media-Art-Archiving.pdf (46–51). A visual presentation can also be found through the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1ONYI_9huE&t=1194s.

4 For a comprehensive overview of such studies, see Broughton and Stevens (2012).

5 Other results of this experiment, particularly regarding the sense of touch in VR, will be published in the Theatre Dance and Performer Training special edition on touch in June 2023 (issue 14.2).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Research Foundation – Flanders (Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, FWO) under Grant No. [G024621N].

Notes on contributors

Ioulia Marouda

Ioulia Marouda is a multidisciplinary designer whose work extends between interactive art and scenography. She is currently doctoral fellow in art science at Ghent University and part of the Institute for Psychoacoustics and Electronic Music (IPEM). Her research interests include interaction in XR, embodiment, and computer graphics. She currently focuses on the transmission of embodied knowledge through immersive and interactive technologies as well as the translation of physiological data as a way to explore the possibilities of the virtual body to uncover qualities otherwise invisible. Since her diploma studies in architecture at the National Technical University of Athens, she has developed an interest in the way digital technologies affect our perception of space. This led her to study further in the Interactive Architecture Lab at UCL. She has worked with design studios and in theatre in Germany and the UK designing physical and digital temporary spaces.

Adriana La Selva

Adriana La Selva is a theatre-maker, a performer, and a researcher. She is currently a fellow FWO researcher with the project Practicing Odin Teatret’s Archives at Studies in Performance and Media – Ghent University (S:PAM), in association with IPEM, Nordisk Teaterlaboratorium, Utrecht University, Manchester Metropolitan University and Aalborg University. She concluded her master’s degree in contemporary arts, at the University of Lancaster, UK, on Deleuze and Guattari’s notion of becoming in relation to physical theatre. She is a member of the international theatre group The Bridge of Winds, led by Odin Teatret actress Iben Nagel Rasmussen. She co-founded Cross Pollination, an international network of performers and researchers, which focuses on dialogues in between practices and tactics for embodied knowledge building.

Pieter-Jan Maes

Pieter-Jan Maes is a professor in systematic musicology at IPEM, Ghent University, Belgium. His research focuses on embodied music and dance interaction. Through empirical research, he aims to better understand the dynamical coordination processes observed in bodily and brain activation of humans engaged in music/dance performance and music listening. He considers the study of coordination processes a gateway towards a better understanding of the powerful (inter)subjective experiences that music can evoke. In his research, he explores emerging technologies of extended reality (XR) as innovative methodological tools, on the level of stimuli creation (simulation of real-life immersive environments, or the creation of ‘impossible’ stimuli), as well as on the level of quantitative measurement of behaviour and (neuro)physiological responses. Further, this research is connected to collaborative artistic-creative research that aims to explore the possibilities of XR technologies to innovate the cultural-creative sector with new forms of musical interaction and expression. More information can be found at https://research.flw.ugent.be/en/pieterjan.maes.