body parts {con}fusion

The duo of dancer, actress and puppeteer Laura Waltz and cellist, composer and director Nora Krahl explores the connection between hands as a control instrument and the human body as a carrier of emotional expression. As a first step they use motion tracking to develop a video installation.

While using motion capture suits, the physical and thus the emotional body expression of movement is transferred one-to-one to a humanoid avatar. However, when animating puppets or producing sound on a cello, the hands are not the primary instrument, but operate on another material, bringing it to life: The animated body is not that of a dancer, but an object - a puppet or an instrument.
The research of body parts {con}fusion starts in the field of the dialogue of these different levels of hand-controlled ensouled objects and body-controlled digital avatars: The different types of movement and body parts are interconnected in the digital world and the different qualities of movement are explored. Are the hands as main actors emotion carriers or simply initiators of impulses? How is the energy emanating from the hands transmitted digitally? What combinations can arise? Do the avatar body parts form a collection of different foreign parts or a new body? Does this have its own breathing, its own aliveness?

Digital Movement Research / Cello: Nora Krahl
Digital Movement Research / Puppets: Laura Waltz
Movement Reserch / Performance: Nora Krahl, Laura Waltz
Visual Arts & Creative Technology: Baris Pekcagliyan, Beka Tcharbadze
Concept & Text: Nora Krahl, Laura Waltz
Photo: Ensemble

A very special thank you to Warja Rybakova for her valuable help and to Ingo Mewes and Karin Tiefensee from the HfS Ernst Busch.

An open rehearsal and the installation were presented during OPEN LAB December 22.

Funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media within the framework of NPN | Stepping Out | NEUSTART KULTUR