Augmented Reality Dance

Dorsett International Hospitality Group commissioned The Collective for their Art at Affordable Art Fair 2022, a series of augmented reality dance performances were exhibited across 4 cities including Hong Kong, Melbourne, London and Singapore.

Concept

There are usually paintings and sculptures in most art fairs and very rarely we can see performing art. Therefore, we were trying to find a way to bring performing art into art fairs while not requiring dancers to dance throughout the whole exhibition period.

The Way We Dance was created during the pandemic period and it was about our own reflection towards the pandemic crisis. We noticed our ways of living and interaction have changed dramatically over this chaotic period. We care more about our planet, the well being of ourselves and others. Although we were physically apart, we were more connected than ever before. Thank you to technology, we could share our love and our desire to reconnect. << The Way We Dance >> consisted 2 short AR dances, << Awake >> and << Progress >>, about our feelings towards this global crisis. Through augmented reality (AR), the merge of visual art and motions connected in virtual space. The performance aims to connect our virtual dancers across the 4 cities with the audiences, bringing people together to share these precious moments.

Mobility

Another consideration we applied AR approach in this project was the mobility of the performance. The show would only require the app and the tracker to be performed in any location in front of any background.

AR activated artwork

Beyond observing the main performances, visitors had the opportunity to delight in two AR-activated artworks, namely ‘House of Joy’ and ‘House of Dreams,’ both inspired by the renowned Pixar animation ‘Inside Out.’

House of Dreams

House of Joy

Amidst the lockdown, we were granted a chance for introspection, allowing us to explore our own emotions, priorities, and the elements that bring us joy and fuel our dreams.

These AR contents were brought to life through motion capture, capturing our dancers as they emulate the characters that venture into our inner selves.

By employing their personal mobile devices, visitors can reveal the hidden dance performance and share the amusement.

Interactivity

We noticed young people’s emotions and needs could be neglected during the pandemic since parents were overwhelmed with work and financial uncertainty together with home schooling. To encourage young people to voice out their needs, we have created the AR activated co-create cards. Visitors can draw what makes them happy and what makes them dream on these cards to create their own AR activated artwork.

Team

Since the pandemic hit hard on the art scene, we wanted to collaborate with as many artists as possible in this project. << The Way We Dance >> was a collaboration between The Collective, 3D animators, visual artists, illustrators, choreographer and dancers.

Curator: Anita Lam, The Collective
Technical Director: Andy Stokes, The Collective
Creative Technologist: Yoki Yao, The Collective
Visual Artists: Bao Ho, Zoie Lam, Joe Ellul and Jay Hofmann-Forster
Choreographer: Yuh Egami (with the kind permission from the HK Ballet)
Dancers: with the kind support from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Art, dance students Jennie Chou (graduated in 2022) and Lee Kok Liang
3D animators: Desmond Lo, Bob Tsang

This project was an extension to Dorsett’s In-room activation, “The Way we share” : Instagram AR filter campaign