Audiences pack the house with regularity; a mix of SL locals curious about the cultural delicacies of their neighborhood, and RL creatives and academics fascinated with Inarra's work.
I asked her a few questions about what it's like to rewrite bodily physics.Every dancer I've ever met has said that they longed to shake the boundaries of gravity -- to fly, hover, etc.
You are actually doing this. How does it "feel"?
Better to ask my dancers this one, but it is very freeing, as you would expect. Perhaps the most exhilarating is 1) the ability to finally be able to do those perfects leaps and turns that you worked on your whole life and 2) be able to do it all without pain and effort!
There is a near complete lack of physical boundaries in SL. Do you impose any parameters on your work - and if so, why?
I distinctly add some physical boundaries. I plan to be able to set our ballets on RL companies and have an interaction between RL and SL -- either streaming RL into SL to interact and/or vice versa.
How does working in-world affect your creative process?
SL allows me to open up my creative process. When I realized, for example, that I could use movement plus SL attributes to transform the beautiful young girl into an old woman during turns to the ground I was very excited!
I notice you still perform in traditional theatrical settings -- a proscenium arch, a stage, etc. Was it your choice to inhabit this sort of space for your work? If so, why the choice to import real world conventions? Do you have plans for more "impossible" performance experiments, such as dancing in mid-air, over the SL sea?
I am interested in exploring the intersection of physical and virtual movement -- not copy RL in SL (no Swan Lake or Nutcracker -- although flying swans and the doll transforming into a prince are tempting :-) or simply free-floating SL. Using the traditional theatre setting was a place to start and also to begin an audience recruitment process (hearing "ballet" would bring in a dance/art audience and I wanted to start off with a more RL setting -- I plan for this to evolve).
What are your overall creative goals for the company? Are you happy to let it evolve organically or do you have concrete things you wish to achieve and explore?
Both. I am interested in exploring the intersection of physical and virtual movement -- not copy RL in SL or or create free-floating SL with no use of any standard movement or constraints.My major goal is to see if a new virtual ballet vocabulary and aesthetic can be created. I also plan to be able to set our ballets on RL companies and have an interaction between RL and SL as well -- either streaming RL into SL to interact and/or vice versa. But I am also working organically ballet by ballet, working with my dancers and other collaborators -- including my roadies!
How do dancers join the company? Do you impose any specific criteria/requirements when selecting your Avatar troupe?
In the beginning, it was difficult to get dancers; now I am beseiged because many people have seen our performances and are excited about getting involved. I acutally send out Call for Audition notices throught the SL group "Second Life Ballet" and then audition people. I look for timing, the ability to move your avatar in space, and some dance or stage knowledge or the ability to learn it. And more importantly, an understanding and agreement of the dedication and time it takes! In the past, dancers rehearsed twice a week for 2 hours each time plus private coaching for 4 months.
Anyone can join the group "Second Life Ballet" and it is free. We welcome audience members, composers, sound managers, costume designers, set designers and rezzers (changing the sets), artists, and so on.
What do you think appeals to artists and creatives about SL?
There is no need for physical spaces and their constraints, there is the ability to perform with and for people all over the world, and you belong to a global artistic community with the possibility of increased collaborations. For me, it was also the ability to choreograph again with technically adept dancers when I am now living in a remote area where RL dancers are not an option.
What are your impressions of the cultural landscape in Second Life?
Creative life has been limited and is still not really the cultural landscape one would expect in virtual world like SL. People tend to recreate RL a great deal -- suburban homes on land, typical mall clothing. It is growing, especially as artists start to work together more.
In many ways SL has hit "mainstream", leading to a rise in visitors and users. What does an influx of newbies mean to you and Second Life Ballet?
I feel that newbies tend to be more interested about the arts, so there are more audience members and more potential dancers and collaborators. They tend to not know what to "do" in SL and are excited about going to an event that is virtual ballet (not gambling or sex and we get a lot of older avatars that are bored with that and are joining us).
What would you tell a real world dancer curious about Second Life and the ability to move in that space?Join Second Life Ballet!For more on Second Life Ballet, visit http://www.slballet.org/
Venessa Paech
Venessa Paech has worked as an actor, producer, choreographer, director and writer in the NT and VIC. She earned her BFA in Theatre from New York University (Tisch School of the Arts), and after basing in Manhattan for a bit, returned home for more arts-shaped adventures. She served on the Steering Committee and Board of Australian Musicals Development Inc., the Executive Committee of the Green Room Awards Association and the Academic Advisory Board for the Wrirting Department of Deakin University. Venessa is Editor and Social Media Manager of Arts Hub Australia and the Founder and Editor of Geek Illustrated (www.geekillustrated.com
copied from art hub by permission of Vanessa Peach..Thank you
