Dance^2 (aka DanceXdance, Dance squared) is a dance piece that is controlled by the collective audience. Central to the piece’s framework is a data-driven OSC show control network that gives the designers live tallies of audience votes to determine the aesthetic qualities of sound, lights, projection, and the choreography between the dancer and their small robot partner called Calico.

 

The show control network, influenced by the audience’s voting, would fire cues depending on which options won. The operators are incapable of stopping the audience’s choices from affecting the direction of the dance, and are at times incapable of stopping the show from running itself. The collaborative network we built took show control away from the stage managers and technicians, and handed it over to the audience, allowing them to become the primary operators driving the narrative of technology and dance forward.