Dr. Adesola Akinleye, an interdisciplinary dancer and choreographer artist-scholar, joins Martheya to talk about Dance and Augmented Reality. They discuss spatial practices, perceived borders, and DancingStrong Movement Lab. (41:43)
This week on DANCE BEHIND THE SCREEN PODCAST…
[0:12] Martheya says welcome back
QUESTIONS WITH THE GUEST
[1:01] Topic: Augmented Reality
[1:01] Martheya asks: “Your work is characterized as ‘voicing people’s lived-experiences in Places through creative moving portraiture.’ Can you briefly introduce yourself and talk about your relationship with dance as an interdisciplinary artist-scholar and choreographer?”
[3:10] Martheya asks: “Could you tell us a little bit about this project and what drew you to AR?”
[10:19] Martheya asks: “Why did you think augmented reality was the right digital tool for this project?”
[12:33] Topic: Spatial Practices & Perceived Borders
[12:33] Martheya asks: “As you mentioned, you had your time as a research fellow at MIT where lots of your work was around the notions of spatial practices. And I want to know. What has drawn you to this type of work and specifically taking these different spatial practices and then tying them to digital technologies?”
[16:48] Martheya asks: In Dancing the digital age: a survey of the new technologies in the choreographic process, the article reviews the impact of new technologies as an essential tool in the creative processes of dance and exploration of the moving-body. You write ‘Creativity seems to make perceived borders between art and science permeable or even arbitrary.’ Can you talk about what you see our perceived borders are with dance and technology? How do you see these borders evolving as new technologies are developed?”
[22:28] Martheya asks: “How are you negotiating? The idea of science and art. I feel like specifically creating art with digital technologies. it can be so data driven and focused on the numbers, as you were mentioning. So as an artist, how are you, solving that problem while you're making?”
[28:49] Topic: DancingStrong Movement Lab
[28:49] Martheya asks: “What is Dancing Strong Movement Lab?”
[30:44] Martheya asks: “ I'm wondering, why is that important to you and to the dancing strong movement lab? To archive the work in the On the website and in the digital space…?”
[36:17] Martheya asks: “Do you think social media is influencing the dance world?”
[37:35] Martheya asks: “How do you say no to the box?”
[38:02] Martheya asks:
1- If you had to recommend a resource to our audience what would it be?
[38:14] Martheya asks:
2- What was the first dance you saw?
Fred Astaire
[38:28] Martheya asks:
3- Do you think social media has a positive influence on the dance world (yes or no)?
“I don’t believe in binaries…”
[38:39] Martheya asks:
4- What is your favorite social media platform?
Instagram
Special acknowledgment goes to the TWU Dance drummers who you hear in the background at the end of the episode.
media courtesy of Dr. Adesola Akinleye
Recommended Resources:
Connect with Dr. Adesola Akinleye
Dr. Adesola Akinleye (pro-nouns They /Theirs), is an interdisciplinary artist-scholar and choreographer. They began their career as a dancer with Dance Theatre of Harlem Workshop Ensemble (USA) later working in UK Companies such as Green Candle, and Carol Straker Dance Company. Over the past twenty years they have created works ranging from films, installation and texts to live performance that is often site-specific and involves a cross-section of the community as well as acting as guest choreographer for university programs and professional company repertoire. Their work is characterized by an interest in glimpsing and voicing peoples lived experiences through creative moving portraiture. A key aspect of their process is the artistry of opening creative practices to everyone from women in low wage employment to ballerinas to performance for young audiences. Akinleye foundered and is co-artistic director of DancingStrong Movement Lab. Working with Dancingstrong Movement Lab co-director, Helen Kindred, their new work Concrete-Water-Flesh, a hybrid physical-web-based live performance piece, seeing performance art as living across geographic location and across time. DancingStrong Movement Lab. also includes triip Lab (turning research ideas into practice) to cultivate a unique multi-generational, multi-disciplinary nurturing and practice-based ensemble space.