“We are out in a country that has no language no laws whatever we do together is pure invention the maps they gave us are out of date” Rich Adrienne

“Mortal Engine” by “Chunky Move” is a site-specific interactive instillation
using sound and light technologies. It explores the tensions between the rational world we live in and richness of our imaginations. The dancers moves are read by the software Eye Con and transformed into live graphics on stage.
Bodies become live animators.This piece inspired me more anything I have seen in quite some time.
The language of sound, movement and moving image interchange with each other and work together
to create something more powerful than either one could communicate on their own.
This piece started my investigation into how different languages work together and
when two or more languages work together does one become the mediator for the other.

This very question has been asked about DanceFilm.
Dance is a very primal language it is also a physical and interactive language.
However access to dance at the moment is quite limited especially where our education system is concerned.

‘There isn’t an education system anywhere on the planet that teaches dance
the same way we teach mathematics” Robinson Ken
DanceFilm is such an interesting format as two languages work together and at the same
time struggle with each other. Dance, a language that is so physical is translated through a flat medium.
It is a confused language however within this confused language I feel there is a way to use this mix of
languages and create a tool to help people learn or help educate.
Jason Mickelson & Wendy have already done a world of investigation into how we can use movement in
education by engaging math learners through embodied performance.
They engage the students in math using bodily action.
They are using similar technologies that “Chunky Move” use but I guess are using it more for the greater good
as opposed to using the aesthetics to help with narrative or by focusing on evoking kinesthetic empathy.
What is amazing about these experiments is that the students are making their own video’s using dance to
solve mathematical problems. They are interacting with the video working through cognitive problems and making their own video’s which they can then reference further on down the line.

I guess what my research into DanceFilm has taught me that these two languages
together can be effective tools in communication.Finding ways to also engage the spectator physically is something I am researching into. Research shows that many patients with eating problems struggle with alexithymia, a term used to describe the difficulty in putting feelings and fantasies into words (Zerbe, 1995).

A lot of movement therapy has been used to help sufferors of depression, anxiety, dyslexia, OCD.
These complex issues are often treated with cognitive therapy and it is interesting that movement
and dance has been used to help solve mathematics and has helped to put numeral cognition into a more
personal and situated context, where the numbers, shapes or equations are part of the physical world rather than a
conceptual or hypothetical world.

I have a lot of work to do and I feel I need to do more research especially
into kinesthetic creativity into participatory design.
Here are two links I feel are important to my work.

“Mortal Engine” and a talk by choreographer Gideon Obarzanek
http://vimeo.com/7711107
This essay on engaging math learners through embodied performance and visualisation.
http://wendyju.com/publications/mathpropulsion.pdf