Carol Brown
Virtual Crossings Network Australia (VCNA) a dance and technology collective initiated by Victoria Chiu and Carol Brown that brings together women engaged in efforts to humanise technology and cultivate international dance collaborations. A virus brought to a halt the dynamic culture of live performing arts in Melbourne at the same time, developments in VR, AR and MOCAP have opened opportunities for local dancers to work with augmented physical & virtual dimensions continuing their practices by engaging in virtual networks that foster and grow international collaborations. TrakLAB is a Melbourne based dance lab incubator that brings together a group of digitally savvy women to develop a new digital dance performance network (VCNA). Building capacity for live interactive performance in collaboration with partners in Switzerland (Cie Gilles Jobin) and Aotearoa NZ (arc/sec) independent dance artist, Victoria Chiu, architect-technologist Yinan Liu (NZ), choreographer Carol Brown (UoM) and digital dance artist Megan Beckwith work out of VCA’s new TrakLAB on St Kilda Road.
Working with advanced computing technologies for interactive performance and graduate dancers, the collective draw on project partners technical/aesthetic skill to develop remote collaboration using motion capture technology. The aim is to open opportunities for future dancers to engage in digital performance practice with physical and virtual dancers based in other countries. This collaboration, supported by digital infrastructure at VCA, University of Melbourne, arc/sec Auckland and Cie Gilles Jobin in Geneva, mobilises virtual spaces as new spaces for dance to travel, safely and with minimal impact creating a sustainable performance network.
Mapping Future Imaginaries 