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Through practice and training (including performance and choreography), dancers acquire specialist movement skills that frequently include conceptual/ experiential ways of sensing the space through and in which the body moves. The form of this sensing experience may vary across techniques, but normally has external as well as internal referents. Trigger/ Sensor and networked environments are unique spaces for the dancer to work in... spaces in which the sound is given spatiality (as in mapped within certain regions) and one's presence is linked electronically to partners far away. How the dancer experiences this and how this experience informs his or her moving as well as how it might inform the designers of such environments is an open question.(Scott deLahunta from Cellbytes 2000)

Question #10: Where is the choreography located in multimedia and multi-site performance works? Is it in the creation and invocation of animations and media objects? In the movement of the performers within a space? Or in the interactions and coordinated effort of people acting together thousands of miles apart?

Answer #1: All of the above. I really think that for those of us holding on to our traditional notions of dance and choreography multimedia and multi-site performance complicated things. A lot of times, distinctions were being made between the dancers and the technicians that were clearly blurred once it came time for actual performance. We needed them just as much as they needed our interaction with their applications. Even in watching the animated dancers created by Yakov and then imitating their choreography, it really plays with our notions of linear or creation and choreography. (Tracie Yorke)

Answer #3: First, I was not a participant of a multi-site performance nor have I observed one, though I find the idea intriguing. Now, in terms of “where does the choreography come from” I see the collaborative process of a performance based on dance and technology very much like the organization of an orchestra. Every musician and instrument has their fair share in the final presentation, and each contributes a unique color that is unmatched by any other section. If managed well you are a witness to a marvel in harmony, if unstructured you are left with a disaster. Therefore, it takes well planed coordination or “choreography” in ever facade in order to orchestra a well produce piece. Considering the various different elements that are involved in a dance and technology production it is this coordination that is critical all on behalves, especially since each play in the song has their own responsibilities that are like any another. (Rickie Alvarez)

Question #11: Provide a simple and clear explanation of how the Very Nervous System works, "differencing" and the concept of triggers.

Answer #1: VNS allows you to process real time video in MAX/MSP. Differencing is amount of change in pixels or noise created by movement in the triggers. A trigger is a user defined region on the stage where activity is monitored.(Tracie Yorke)

Answer #2: I can not recall at this point what the Very Nervous Systems was, nor an efficient explanation of “differencing.” As for triggers, triggers are sensory activated “cues”, so to speak, of numerous effects that are dependant on an active force, presence, or effort. Their creation is based on a sort of grid mask that is focused on a particular space usually through the use of a capturing camera. Triggers can provide a dynamite effect as their sole effectiveness is instigated by the dancer, proving that their usage is an ultimate form of true “interactive” capability.(Ricky Alvarez)

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