Dance for the Camera Festival
Association
for the Advancement of Dance and Performance Telematics (ADAPT)
Integrative Arts Class
Philosophy
We are in the midst of a
profound cultural shift as a result of the accessibility of computer
and digital technologies. Recent developments in the areas of performance
and technology have been broad, far-reaching and tremendously exciting.
The University of Utah's Department of Modern Dance has become involved
in these developments by producing works that utilize technology and
visual media (video and computer generated), and by engaging in the
resultant critical and aesthetic discourse. Artistic investigation has
historically collaborated with technological advancements, and research
in the area of Dance and Technology is at the forefront of scholarly
inquiry in the arts. It is a relatively new field in higher education
with exciting and far-reaching potential as it incorporates all of the
arts (music, visual art, media, etc.), along with the most current advances
in communication technologies.
The University of Utah Department of Modern Dance is a participating
member of a new association called ADAPT (Association for the Advancement
of Dance and Performance Telematics). ADAPT is an interdisciplinary
association of artists, technologists and scholars from five universities
dedicated to research and critical dialogue on performance and media
in telematic space. Telematics refers to shared activities that occur
simultaneously in multiple locations via the Internet. The Department
of Modern Dance has recently received substantial funding for the creation
and instrumentation of a technologically supported performance environment.
Curriculum within the Department at the undergraduate and graduate levels
has expanded to include coursework in digital image manipulation, video
and digital editing, and interdisciplinary arts, taught collaboratively
in conjunction with the Art and Music Departments. Opportunities exist
for graduate students to conduct their creative research in the area
of Dance and Technology.
