choreophony

"Choreophony"

(a work in progress attempt of a definition through praxis by Pablo Ventura)
The generating of polyphony through choreography. 
The art of generating polyphonic sound textures through several dancers 
choreographies with the aid of motion tracking and gesture recognition technologies.
Sounds are triggered and influenced, modulated, distorted, slowed, speeded, made 
louder or silenced by dancers movements mapped to these sound files. These can be 
affected by the dancers travelling in space (positional recognition), or to dancers 
gestures in place (gesture recognition).
Sounds are then redirected in space through Multichannel PA sound system and 
distributed through an array of speakers in a performance space. (refer to *Choreofony).
Choreophony as an element of an overall Choreography of Space entails:
- composing of sound layers by means of dancers movements captured through motion 
tracking technologies and mapped to sound files.
-redirecting sounds in space / choreographing space through sounds (eg. DTS 5.1 
Surround/ Multichannels). (refer to *Choreofony)
-not to attempt to compose music but to find out how a certain dance sequenceʼs 
dynamics and rhythms can affect sounds. (The generation of auditive textures instead of 
composing music).
-choreographing space using dance interrelated to audios, lights and video projections.
Considerations:
Whilst precision in the choreography and precise placement and timing in space is 
crucial for mapping,  overlapping of layers and randomness of sounds is desired. 
(Image:  swimmers under water as the sources of waves reverberating throughout and 
affecting the whole space).
The choreography is not to be devised in order to generate specific 1 to 1 mapped 
sounds but should retain it's independence and validity as dance composition in itself. 
The dancer retains the freedom to interpret set choreographies affected by the sounds 
produced (double feedback). He is not to be used to trigger imaginary buttons to 
generate a sound composition for a composer.
*Choreofony.
According to Andres Bosshard: the "Hörballett" (Listening ballet) that we constantly hear. 
"Im Hörballet der Choreofonie… sind nicht nur verschiedenste Orte der Stadt akustisch 
miteinander verworben, auch Sie Tanzen auf dem Parkett allen Tages- und 
Nachtzeiten..". Andres Bosshard. „Stadt hören: Klangspaziergänge durch Zürich“. 
Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung 2009.
A possible approach to achieve a Choreophony performance could be through the 
combination of:Positional and Gestural Recognition of Dancers in a Space. 
Positional recognition: whenever a dancer actuates a field A, B, C, or D he/she can 
trigger or affect a sound or video sample. (e.g.: mapped to generate choral sounds, 
audio textures or graphics, e.g..: „Zone“ 2001).
 
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