By Erica Rodriguez
Special to TNAZ

A renowned dance choreographer and an Arizona State University professor fused their skills of dance and technology to create an experience that wowed audience members and made them part of the action.

The infusion of art and science was seen at STREB: BRAVE, choreographed by Elizabeth Streb of Streb Lab for Action Mechanics in Brooklyn. The dance performance took place at the Herberger Theater in early November and was presented by Future Arts Research at ASU.

Streb said she wants audience members to feel each movement and even feel as if they performed the movement during her shows.

"I wanted the movement to ram into the spectator," Streb said. "When they leave, I want them to feel like they've performed some of the movement. I want them to feel charged and changed when they walk out of those doors."

STREB: BRAVE mixes mechanics, engineering and heavy equipment with dance. For one number, Streb collaborated with ASU Assistant Professor of Human Computer Interaction Win Burleson to create a moonscape on a 23 ft. X 23 ft. wall for dancers to scale while pirouetting in harnesses.

The moonscape was possible due to pendaphonics, which was developed by Burleson in collaboration with Aalborg University in Denmark.

Pendaphonics is hardware and software that senses dancers' movements on a wall to create a dance set to music on the moon.

The dancers on the wall were connected to a line that is connected to a computer on stage. The computer reads the dancers' movements and changes the picture on the screen projected onto the wall.

"It started with a commercial game controller called Gametrak," Burleson said. "It spurred an inventive process."

Burleson compared the technology of pendaphonics to the videogame Guitar Hero.

"It's like in Guitar Hero when players respond to new events on the screen," Burleson said. "It's a real-time interaction between choreographers and dancers."

Pendaphonics made its debut in a public art gallery, acting as a tetherball to show the interaction between user and technology.

"There was a wiffle ball-like molecule," Burleson said. "Users would push it and it scratched like a record and it would play a soundtrack. It was an exploration of mixed reality in physical space."

Streb said she worked with Burleson and other ASU scientists because of their reputation for innovation.

"ASU definitely has a reputation of motion capture," Streb said. "I really like all of the science emersion with the arts. They also were so approachable. They allow themselves time to come visit. Other universities seem to have their own agenda, but ASU was very willing to make time to meet with us."

Streb and Burleson first met in 2008, brought together by Future Arts Research.

"FAR fully commissioned the project," Streb said. "It gave us a platform to meet all the directors and scientists. It allowed us access to the knowledge, time and place."

Burleson said of ASU, "In the collaboration, we're only contributing 2 percent. We're just doing something they can't."

The name for STREB: BRAVE comes from the intense action performed by the dancers, Streb said.

"'BRAVE was a genesis of trying to add force to construction and extreme action," Streb said. "The ante was upped. We're using motors and things move and everything is way more exaggerated."

In addition to the mechanics of pendaphonics, the stage is motorized, constantly moving under the dancers feet, and a massive metal contraption called the Whizzing Gizmo is used.

Dancers are referred to as "actioneers" and as actioneer Jackie Carlson said, every performance with the machines is a "challenge."

"It's all very dangerous and we are taking huge risks, but we have to have a 100 percent trust in one another," Carlson said.

Future performances will take place Spring, 2010 in Pennsylvania, New York and North Carolina.