Softdriver
Performance for human and nonhuman
Time: 18:00 - 19:00
Date: Thursday 24 November 2016 - Friday 25 November 2016
Location: Driving Simulator, 68 Hillary Place, University of Leeds LS2 9JT
Cost: Free event, as part of Being Human Festival
This event involves a choreographic duet to be performed at and by The Driving Simulator (University of Leeds). The medium is movement, as performed by a large sphere containing a real-life Jaguar car, mounted on a moving robotic pedestal-- one of the largest driving simulators in the UK.
One dancer performs inside the simulator - her role is to drive. The other dancer responds to the movements of the sphere, which are determined by the behaviour and moves of the driver. The Virtual Reality visualisations on which which the driver is immersed are combined with images of the dancer outside the sphere, abstracted to look like roads and highway landscapes-- a drive down human bodily contours.
The quality of the machine’s movement is incorporated by the dancer outside the simulator. Pre-recorded and live sound punctuate the kinetic mediation between human and nonhuman machine, fusing human body and corporeal car.
The audience mingle in this industrial and high-tech space, getting a peek into the technology that is pushing the design of smart cars for the future.
There will be two durational, drop-in and site specific performances:
24 November 6-7pm
25 November 6-7 pm
Please note there is standing room only.
To book a ticket contact:
Jessica Van Horssen [log in to unmask] or visit
Con8 / Stage@Leeds Team
Choreography and dance: Sarah Rogers (Ransack Dance)
Driver: Ruth Madigan
Sound design/ live sampling: Rob Mackay
Video: Sebastian Melo
Simulator and VR: Andrew Tomlinson
Lights and sound: Andie Mills and Jessica Rowland
Direction: Nicolas Salazar Sutil