Choreographic Encounters in XR: Reflections on Dancing in/Dancing with the Digital

Abstract

This article presents findings from first-person accounts of shifting choreographic practice into mixed-reality environments. Dancing in/Dancing with the Digital, a transdisciplinary practice-based project exploring embodiment and movement in XR. In the research and design phases of the project, all authors kept reflective practice journals, which form the data for this auto-ethnographic and phenomenologically-driven reflexive practice analysis. We further support these perspectives by user-testing with professional dancers and the engineering students who developed the XR configurations. Through a kaleidoscope of perspectives, including dance, psychology, somatic practices, digital technologies, and design approaches, we explore embodied awareness and practice in existing and novel XR design. Themes discussed include elements of disorientation in digital environments and touch as a grounding point, the prospect of multimodal creative stimuli, complications of representation in digital spaces, and the digital-as-site for choreography.