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Review
[
February, 2009]
Metaphor
Performed as the Interaction of Pure Light
a collaboration of
masters
The
New Media Consortium
hosts
DanCoyote's
Zero-G
SkyDancers
in
Let Love Live
(L3)
Through March,
2009
The seats disappear once the
show begins, leaving the audience suspended sitting in space.
The "cascade" costumes of the SkyDancers above are yellow, blue
and hot pink.
If you
have never seen the ZeroG SkyDancers then you are missing a spectacular
and riveting experience. This show raises the standards for evaluating
performance art, not just in the virtual world of Second Life®, but
in all media. It incorporates original musical composition,
choreography, set and costume design, as well as computer code
scripting. The current iteration was photographed by ArtWorld Market at
the performance on Sunday, February 15, 2009. There is no way a series
of images can communicate the sensation of being immersed in this
performance, with the dancers in their immense costumes, called
"cascades," swooping past you. The scale is so huge relative
to the size of the avatars that the figures of the dancers are rarely
seen, and the visual impression is a ballet of pure light.
This is
the fourth full redesign of the SkyDancer show since the troupe's founding
in May of 2006, and features an all new musical score by ZeroOne Paz, all
new choreography performed by the SkyDancers: Anhinga Chaika, Tatiana
Kurri, Angelique Menoptra, Lina Lageos, Buffy Beale, Pielady Smalls,
Talulah Bancroft and Wytchwhisper Sadofsky, all new cascade costumes by DC
Spensley and Josina Burgess, and a three-kilometer (3000m) stage set by
DanCoyote in collaboration with some of the top creators in Second Life,
including Technical Director (code poet) ZenMondo Wormser, architect Scope
Cleaver, and artists Glyph Graves, Strawberry Holiday, Selavy Oh and
Sabine Stonebender.
Each of the creators is a master of
their discipline, and together they have produced an abstract
multimedia event that defines a genre.
Spensley
(aka avatar DanCoyote Antonelli within Second Life), creator of the group, produces
and directs the performance, which includes a reactive-interactive stage
set that is repeatedly transformed over the hour long performance as the
seating flies through monolithic sculptures.
The theme of this ballet follows those
of Spensley's previous productions, with the characters facing
moral and ethical challenges that lead to redemption. The
performance flowed flawlessly, with the movement of the dancers
and the audience synchronized perfectly with the music. The
dramatic score by ZeroOne Paz both complements and creates the
shifting mood of this work.
The teamwork involved in the
organization and execution of Let Love Live is a tribute
to the commitment of the participants in the creation of an
international collaboration. The SkyDancers rehearsed three
times a week for six months to perfect the choreography. The
design and construction of the sets, scripts and costumes
involved hundreds of hours of detailed building, scripting and
co-ordination. |
DanCoyote dons a
hat that appears as a dialogue balloon, like
in a graphic novel, to instruct the audience to adjust their
settings.
The
seating is scripted to raise the audience through sequential
levels of stage sets as the performance progresses.
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DC speaks to the audience
before the show starts.
Between movements the
audience rises through the 3,000 meter high sculpture to the next stage.
Zooming in on the SkyDancers
in motion on the stage in the previous image.
The view looking up as we
rise.
The SkyDancers pass
through the audience.
Above: Photo of the
performance a few seconds before the image directly below.
Approaching another stage.
The SkyDancers interacting
with the set.
Zooming out for a view of a
monolith segment.
Looking up with SkyDancers
overhead.
A dramatic moment of
intersecting cascades.
DanCoyote conducting the
performance.
You can
also read our illustrated
review of last year's show, Second Spring, and see video
clips from the last two productions.
For
ticket information, contact Lina Lageos in-world.
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