Digital dance
Background information
Dancers have experimented with computer technology since the 1980s. Computer technology can help choreographers to plan and edit dances before they work with dancers. It also expands the possibilities of dance by using animation. This is seen in live performances and on screen, often in music videos and commercials. Dancers wear motion capture suits that allow small reflector balls to be attached to the dancers' joints so that infrared sensors can record their movements on a computer. This data can be used to move 'cyber-humans' in virtual spaces.
It is possible to choreograph dance on a computer by using software to control motion and sound. For example, Merce Cunningham, an American choreographer, used the software tool Life Forms to create movements before working with his dancers.