Working with Digital Immigrants...

This week I also led a workshop for three members of Three Score Dance Company and two associate dancers. This was as part of the outreach for the project and also to further my research into the affect that technology is having on society, with a particular focus on digital immigrants and digital natives (people born before and after the digital era). The aim of the workshop was to give the participants an insight into my work, both choreographically and digitally and to engage them in discussions to stimulate new ways of thinking about their relationship with the digital.

We started the workshop with some repertory from Digital Tattoo, a section that derives from movements we all carry out when using our technological devices: swipes, enlarges, taps, typing… I then asked them to create their own movements, generated from their experiences of using the online. Every single piece interestingly had reference to frustration.

I then asked them to fill out a questionnaire about their relationship with the digital, which generated interesting points and inspiration for starting points for new works. These points were recorded with permission and delivered to Tom Sayers, ‘Digital Tattoo’s’ sound designer and may appear in the work.

I then showed them what I had managed to learn about Isadora from my mentoring session, which they were really interested in, although perhaps a little overwhelmed by as it was to me when I first learnt it over a longer period of time. We then carried out another improvisational task used within the creation of the work, in which one person imagines they are drawing a tattoo onto their partners body. The partner is asked to respond. They said that this had been quite an unusual way for them to work in receiving improvisational stimuluses and was a task that they particularly enjoyed.

We finished the workshop by giving another workshop participant a hug that lasted over twenty seconds which is the time needed to hug someone in order to release the endorphins that make us feel good. After talking so much about how disconnecting the internet can be, I felt that it was important to conclude through human contact as this is something that technology is depriving us of.

To conclude, it was positive to receive emails from the participants saying that the workshop had left them with a lot of things to think about and that it was unusual but nice for them to work in a smaller group.

I am carrying out another free workshop for digital natives on the 18th of November 10:30-13:30. If you are interested please get in touch at: katiefay100@live.co.uk to register a place.