Double Feature (2010)
Double Feature
The theme of doubling animates the process of creating a site-responsive work for Pavilion Dance: on a material level, the new performance center inhabits a historical structure; on a cultural level, contemporary dance mirrors Bournemouth's classical and popular dance legacy; and on a formal level, Double Feature is conceived of as paired sequences, with a "hinge" at the centre of the piece, creating a 180º degree flip at the midpoint of the work.
The content of the work is site specific on several levels: Bournemouth University's Access Mocap facilitated the motion capture of waltzes, each performed by dancers from Bournemouth. The setting of the media work records the construction site of Pavilion Dance in March, 2010.
Motion capture studies explored the structure of the double: performers waltzed with partners, who were physically absent yet present in digital form, on a projected screen. The narrative underlying these passages examines a series of central pairings: parent/child, explorer/exploiter, and helper/helped.
Dialogue between physical and material forms another duality. Following local research in consort with Harrison Atelier, Bokaer filmed and documented the construction site of Pavilion Dance in development, through shooting a series of 60 "found prosceniums." In these empty spaces, the construction site unintentionally formed the dimensions of a proscenium: shadows, doorways, outlines, unfinished materials, and open windows were documented to appear as the outlines of a stage. Similar to the digital overlay produced in the motion capture studies, the language of video was used to frame - and double - the construction site with its future, absent users.
By pairing motion capture studies with existing video footage, the project couples two disparate forms of media in a sparring duet of moving images. The frames become a stage; the data becomes performed; and Double Feature becomes a constructed site of moving bodies, and moving images.
Embodying The Double
In preparing a site-responsive work for Pavilion Dance, the theme of doubling occurs - and is embodied - on a number of thematic and structural levels.
As a media work, Double Feature is conceived of as a twin sequence, with a "hinge" at the centre of the piece, creating a 180º degree flip at the midpoint of the work.
Motion capture studies of waltzes (involving local participants from Bournemouth), also explored this paired structure, while often removing one of the waltzing figures. The narrative underlying these danced sections conceives of a series of central pairings: parent/child, explorer/exploiter, and helper/helped.
Parallel to this, Bokaer filmed and documented the construction site of Pavilion Dance in development, through shooting a series of 60 "found prosceniums." In these empty spaces, the construction site unintentionally formed the dimensions of a proscenium: shadows, doorways, outlines, unfinished materials, and open windows were documented to appear as the outlines of a stage.
The language of video was used to frame - and double - the construction site with its future users.
By pairing motion capture studies with existing video footage, Bokaer couples two disparate forms of media in a sparring duet of moving images. The frames become a stage; the data becomes performed; and Double Feature becomes a constructed site of moving bodies, and moving images.
Artistic Director and Choreographer: Jonah Bokaer
Dancers: Olga Vikhrova & Annie Christopher
Commissioned by: Dance South West, Pavilion Dance in partnership with SCAN
Funded and supported by:
Arts Council England
Bournemouth Borough Council
Bournemouth Town Centre Vision
SCAN
Bournemouth University
Drew Construction Group