Taking care of bodies: tracing gestures betwixt and between live-digital dancing

This paper discusses some findings from practice-as-research into digital dance performance making. In an attempt to re-conceptualize the art of making movement, particularly as new technologies become more and more pervasive in art practice generally, this paper presents a personal perspective of the potential for ‘live’ and ‘digital bodies’ to interact. Key to this interaction has been a philosophical appreciation of Erin Manning’s concepts of a ‘sensing body in movement’ and ‘relation’ (2007, 2011). Using Manning’s ideas as a methodology for rethinking the relationship between live and digital dancing, this paper explores how the integration of digital media into choreographic practices can begin to shift our understanding of how best to compose movement simultaneously in live and digital contexts. Furthermore, this paper aims to explore and further understand what it means to move within media-rich environments, moving towards a situation where the idea of ‘taking care of bodies’ extends to how such performance paradigms can begin to re-engage with performer/audience perception.