Wednesday, April 1, 2009

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While OBT is working on reprising The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, one of William Forsythe's best-known ballets, the choreographer himself has been working on a cutting-edge project that could change the face of modern ballet and its relationship to disciplines not commonly associated with dance choreography. As explained in the New York Times this past Sunday, "Synchronous Objects for One Flat Thing, reproduced" was publicly unveiled today--- not on stage in a theater, but on the internet. See it here: https://synchronousobjects.osu.edu/.

Forsythe's collaboration with the Ohio State University's program for Dance and Technology and its Advanced Computing Center developed from his interest in moving choreography "from dance to data to objects" while continuing to develop his signature explorations in counterpoint and epaulment. To me, the most beautiful and exciting thing about this new project is its potential implications for the field of dance. For dance choreography to be seen and used as a developmental tool, a practical inspiration to architects, designers, computer engineers and graphic artists would be not just hugely validating for an art form somtimes maligned as stodgy or unuseful, but would push those of us in this field to continue expanding the boundaries of what we are doing while maintaining true to our classical roots.
You can read the article in the NYT here:http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/arts/dance/29sulc.html?_r=1&ref=dance

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