Spiral: a two-player entangled performance system

Spiral is a performance system made for a collaboration between a dancer and electronic music performer. This performance system builds upon my work with gametrak controllers, modifying it further to add motion sensing to the base of a wireless gametrak. Spiral was iteratively developed through workshops with dancer Isabella Oberländer, for a commission from Light Moves Festival in 2023. The iterative development process allowed the agency of the components and the movement of the performers to prompt means of interaction and expressive functionality. Adding motion-sensing to the base of the gametrak, made it more mobile, tangible, and due to entanglement, necessitated a change of engagement from and between the performers and within the performance environment. This mobility extends the scale of movement available, allowing for both micro and macro movement. This physical flexibility led to an extended sonic expression by extending the dynamics, intensity and range. Following the completion of the collaboration, I further iterate on the system whilst trying to retain the past presence of the dancer as a component of the system.