Machine Winks is a dance performance between a dancer and an interactive mechanical partner.
After some sketches were made during the Synergy workshop organised by The Krisztina de Châtel Dance Company, Productiehuis Rotterdam (Rotterdamse Schouwburg) and the V2_lab, Marnix de Nijs, Edwin van der Heide and the Krisztina de Châtel Dance Company decided to develop a real dance piece that premiered at the Dutch Dancing Days in Maastricht Nederland.
Equipped with several sensors, the machine measured the distance between the dancer and itself and her actual position in the performance area. These parameters steered and directed the machine, operated the air valves and depicted the sound coupled with projected images.
Dancer Ana Ladas not only explored the machine and challenged its role as a dance partner but she played with both the enticing and the dangerous elements of the spinning machine. The movements and sound of the interactive mechanical dance partner were manipulated by its own examination of the space around it and by direct physical contact through human interaction. The piece was developed after an investigation into the two-way relationship between dance and the machine.
Credits: a project by Marnix de Nijs, Edwin van der Heide and the Krisztina de Châtel Dance Company.
Installation / interaction / sound: Marnix de Nijs, Edwin van der Heide
Dance / choreography: Ana Ladas
Lightdesign: Bernie van Velzen
(source: http://marnixdenijs.nl)