This chapter archives the motion capture data from sessions with two identical twins, aged fourteen. It (re)maps their relational curve and the way that they occupy the space.
I argue that their character can be identified by the way they stand, as in the figures opposite, where Twin A holds a T pose (the starting point) confidently, and Twin B shows hesitation. Although they have identical skeletons, the way that they stand shows their confidence in hitting the pose.
This slideshow breaks down the twins'jump showing their preparation, effort and landing. It breaks down the movement to show their slight differences in timing.
At first the twins both bend their knees in anticipation of a jump, note that Twin A (background figure) is slightly ahead of Twin B (foreground figure).
At the height of the jump, both twins lift their arms above their shoulders to raise their bodies higher, one can see that Twin A is a mili-second ahead of Twin B, she is already descending from the apex of the jump.
As the twins land on one foot, their knees are bent to take the impact of the leap, again, Twin A is a milisecond ahead with her right foot almost touching the ground.
Below, is an animation showing the whole dance and the sensors attached to the body. The twins start opposite each other on the ground, and perform several turning jumps. Note that both twins appear to be dancing in synch, only by studying each frame, as above, can their differences be made visible.
SPACE CHORDS: different forms of notation
These early computer aided diagrams, by John Harries for Noa Eschkol, illustrate the curves that form by the movements of the limbs, illustrating the effort involved in lifting a light/heavy limb. Eshckol defined a heavy limb as the part of the limb that carried the light limb, e.g. the upper arm carries the fore arm.
Dating from the 1950s these early notations map the trajectory of the limbs in space, from different view points. They are perfect examples of the Fibonnaci sequence, which is found in sprial shapes in nature - shells, ferns, sunflower heads - and in the joints of the fingers.
In the1980s contemporary choreographer, Merce Cunningham, worked with computer programmers to produce choreographic software, which not only mapped each dancer's moves, but could break down each movement into separate frames.
This screengrab shows the mapping of the limbs, during a ronde de jambe (literally a circle of the limbs). In a similar vein to Noa Eschko's notation it can be viewed from all angles, and is, therefore ideal for a dancer to copy poses.
On the timeline, one can see how the arms lift up, transcribing a curve, as the legs make a semi circular motion.
Many dance companies are now using motion capture to record choreograhy. I am using mocap to highlight similarities and diffences in character, and to show how movement can express emotions through the use of camera angles.
Here, I show how the wireform of the motion capture can show the parametric form of the dancer. I experiment with different camera angles to show how this alters the encounter.
SPACE CHORDS
In Space Chords 1 (2021)I have used motion capture of a ronde de jambe movement, and created an androgynous character, as a political body.
Experimenting with the camera placement to see if that alters the encounter with the adolescent body.
In Space Chords 1 the camera is placed in front of the girl, as if seen onstage.
In Space Chords 2 the camera is placed above the figure.
By capturing the animation from above, it emphasises the character's youth and vulnerability. The opening shot shows her in a foetal curve.
In Space Chords 3 I have experimented with showing the female looking back of the young avatar, again, placing the camera from above, but this time, highlighting her strength as she looks up into the lens, as a confrontation.
This is an animated re-mapping of Mulvey's ideas of 'to-be-looked-at-ness' and confronting the eye of the camera, as in girl sitting.
HARMONICS
In Harmonics 1 I created an accidental distortion of the limbs, by adding the data to the hips of the androgynous avatars instead of the bones. The resulting image created an interesting flexibility of the arms which was unrealistic. I call this the progressive body as it creates a potential for an unknown or (un)stable body to emerge.In conversation with Haraway’s definition of the cyborg body, as a site of potential, dangerous transgressions and a progressive body (Haraway 1991).
In Harmonics 2 we can see the elbow movements of Twin B during the whole animation/motion capture take. This is absolute movement (Manning 20009) at its purest, it is movement distilled into space/time/duration.
Harmonics 3 shows the vectors mapped by each joint of the two dancers in a volumetric diagram. It traces not only the 3D movements of the girl's bodies, but also their relative movements in space and time. The dots on the curves represent a frame, at 60 frames per second, there are an infinitesimal number of intervals in each moment.The intervals of movement are highlighted by extracting the moments in-between, and the relative movements between the twins.This screenshot, taken at the end of the animation, shows the accumulated movements of Twin B’s elbows. Each dot is a frame on the animation.
