Digital Dancing: Communicating Movement Through Technology

Abstract

This thesis investigates the transmission of movement in the 21st century as mediated by technology. Specifically it focuses on the translation between embodied (physical) and disembodied (digital) renderings of dance as it is shared across space and time. Framing these discussions within the creative portion of my thesis, Please Subscribe, illuminates the practical application of this theoretical research. It outlines the dance as an active, embodied research process, which pulled from the work of specific artists as impetus for investigation. The written portion of my thesis investigates concepts of technological embodiment, networked art, and viral movement trends in an effort to better understand the role of the body within movement transmission. With an emphasis on embodiment within technological exchange, it examines what it means to be human within the 21st century.