Dance 30S: Chocolate Heads "Weather Simulator" Project: Where Choreography Meets Design

Although dance is the main event, there is no limit to the elements you can use when creating a dance production. The work that happens in the studio with collaborators from different disciplines can be a space to expand the dancer's sense of performance and visual installation. When theatrical elements truly complement the physical performance, the audience is allowed to be immersed in the experience of embodied imagination. The Winter 22-23 project will be dedicated to the dance theater production of the ongoing Chocolate Heads "Weather Simulator" Project. In Autumn 22-23, we began generating the choreographic and conceptual framework. This quarter, we will continue the process of creating our "weather simulator" as a vehicle to explore the relationship between weather and human social life. We will engage with a variety of theatrical elements and genres of performance-making to deliver an impactful intermedia event that will be performed as part of the Spring Dance Faculty Concert. In addition to contemporary dance and pedestrian movement, topics to explore will include production design, film and projection mapping, object manipulation, and live music. We invite dancers, movers, and interdisciplinary creators of all styles and backgrounds. In addition to movement artists, we are also seeking singers, filmmakers and students skilled in computer graphics and puppetry or object manipulation. In an unpredictable world of climate catastrophes, how can our simulator inspire hope through collective imagination grounded in science? Contact Instructor/Artistic Director, Aleta Hayes (ahayes1@stanford.edu)to express interest or ask questions about participation.