Laeterna Machina - digital dance collective

Collective

What happen when the body becomes the only interface ? How can the body learn, play and compose an audio-visual artifact ? How does it affect creativity and emotion. Can the body function as a visual instrument ?
The Laeterna Machina was founded in 2003 in France as an interdisciplinary research project combining dance, music, video and light engineering.
The Collective is unique in the world of contemporary dance, it has succeed in developing new electronic interfaces with custom sound and video software alongside powerful shows, workshops and lectures. It's also the first dance collective that has published all of its rehearsals on a website (video blog) and that is now available on the iTunes Music Store. (video podcast).

Choreography : Gaetano Giunta
Image : Bertrand Gondouin
Light Direction : Cyril Monteil
Sound : Laeterna Machina

Photo : Marie Baltazar

Sys-Org Show (2005-2006)

The performance is a Frankenstein mashup of nostalgia and mental illness, centered round a dancer’s double identity.
The choreography creates a sonic and visual instrument which transforms physical impulse and energy into acoustic gestures and visual territories. Composed as a sequence of concentrated scenes, it creates an emotional and narrative logic underscored by intense, abstract imagery.
Taking the spectator through the looking glass into what may be the paranoic vision of an android, or simply a tale of modernity.

Download the video : iPod video (QuickTime), 89.6Mo, sony PSP, 152 Mo

Sound : Pascal Baltazar
Choreography : Gaetano Giunta
Image : Bertrand Gondouin
Light Direction : Cyril Monteil

Costumes design : Chris De Clerq and Namik Gaud
Choreography consultant : Mireille Reyes

Photos : Marie Baltazar

Tempo Line Show (2004)

Burn Hollywood Burn !
At the beginning of the show, Gaetano, super dance performer, has to make a huge decision : will he burn fat, hollywood or the electronic devices he is wearing ?
Depending on his initial impulse, he may change the face of the world...or only his weight.

Sound : Pascal Baltazar
Choreography : Gaetano Giunta
Image : Bertrand Gondouin
Light Direction : Balou

Credits photos : Marie Baltazar, Flash animation : Aymeric Reumaux

Tour

27/01/2006 20h30 - Theatre municipal de Montauban, Montauban, France (Sys-Org)
26/01/2006 14h00 - Theatre municipal de Montauban, Montauban, France (Sys-Org)
10/04/2005 - Festival "Les pas de Troyes", Troyes, France (Sys-Org)
03/03/2005 - Festival " Rebonds 05", Albi, France (Sys-Org premiere)
06/06/2004 - Dance at School Workshop, Albi, France (Tempo Line)
03/04/2004 - Festival "Rebonds 04", Albi, France (Tempo Line)
13/10/2003 - Dance at School Workshop, Castres, France (Tempo Line)

Technology

Laeterna Machina uses body sensors patched to the dancer. They measure the movements of the performers and send the signal wirelessly to our computers and home made software.
The raw movement signal is then converted to code that we can use to manipulate directly video, light and sound. We are mostly using the MAX/MSP graphical programming environment, with some drops of PureData, and the MIDI protocol.
With such a system, the performer creates the music with his movements together with the musician and the video artist. Body gesture filters, triggers and transforms sounds and pictures in an unpredictible and complex live show.

Contact & booking

Contact Page

iPod Filling Station III - DA ... NCE - Stefan Kolgen

"Browsing inside the pod- and vodcasting listings on the iTunes Music Store, I stumbled upon this list of freely available media. Feel free to explore and subscribe."

Vlog Digest: March 03 - Clark Saturn

VlogDigest with Clark Saturn
"It's a chock full of [...] videos, really high production kind of stuff, they've got this kind of spacy music thing that indicates abstract sort of dancing thing ..."

Watch the video
Featured in : We Are The Media

320x240 - Smithie Boho

"Linear time,performance art,Japan, & a Tiny tube [...] very cool!"

320x240