Choreographer Alexander Whitley and Digital Artist Neal Coghlan will discuss their work with motion capture and 3D animation software in the creation of digital dance productions, exploring the opportunities for different bodily forms and representation of human movement this technology affords. They will also discuss their experiments connecting dancers from remote locations in a shared virtual space through the use of motion capture streaming technology and the possibilities this presents for the future of dance creation and performance.

Speakers: 
Alexander Whitley, Choreographer
Neal Coghlan, Digital Artist

Moderator:
Prof. Anna CY Chan, Dean of the School of Dance, The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts

About Alexander Whitley
Born in 1980, Alexander Whitley is a London-based choreographer working at the cutting edge of British contemporary dance. As artistic director of Alexander Whitley Dance Company he has developed a reputation for a bold interdisciplinary approach to dance making, producing technologically innovative and thought provoking stage productions as well as exploring the creative possibilities being opened up by new digital platforms. He has also created work for several of the UK's leading companies including the Royal Ballet, Rambert, Balletboyz, Candoco and Birmingham Royal Ballet.

Alexander is a New Wave Associate artist at Sadler's Wells theatre and a former associate of Rambert and the Royal Ballet. He is an Artist Fellow at Queen Mary University of London and a tutor on the Design for Performance and Interaction Masters programme at The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL. 

Alexander trained at the Royal Ballet School and began his career at Birmingham Royal Ballet before moving into contemporary dance, where he enjoyed a wide range of experiences working with companies including Rambert, Michael Clark Company, Sydney Dance Company and Wayne McGregor Random Dance. During this time he was twice nominated for Outstanding Performance in the Critics' Circle National Dance Awards. His choreography has won him nominations for the 2012 Arts Foundation fellowship, the 2014 Sky Arts Southbank Awards and the 2015 Critics' Circle Awards.

Alexander has developed a strong network of collaborators across numerous art forms, working with filmmakers, designers, digital artists and composers to create innovative and wide-ranging work that seeks to broaden the scope of dance and deepen an appreciation of movement across the many mediums it bears relevance to. He is also a member of New Movement Collective, a group of acclaimed dancers and choreographers who seek to redefine the landscape of contemporary dance through creating site-specific and multi-disciplinary performance work.  


By Zoom
​Registration: https://forms.gle/TN1Qx3Ym7zmz4tZY6