Our interactive installation #dancelab seems to be a hit. Open less than a week, there have already been 3,000 dances!
What is #dancelab?
A collaboration between the DAM, Wonderbound dance company, and Legwork Studio, #dancelab is a participatory dance experience, where you, the visitor, are invited to follow dance steps choreographed exclusively for this installation. Then see your movements projected in large format, into an MTV-like music video for all to see. No dance experience or skills are needed.
The #dancelab experience is intended to get to the heart of dance as a universal mode of expression. #dancelab evokes the ephemeral, and social aspect of dance. It is about the thrill, pure joy, and delight that music and dance can bring.
For all partners involved, the project was defined to by two key ideas: 1) to make dance as accessible as possible, free from the notions of peer pressure or expertise and 2) to create a build and experience that would bring community together. And it's certainly doing that. We've noticed that people are even dancing in groups, and taking "ussies." (Use the hashtag #dancelab to share your experience of the installation online and see the videos and photos others are sharing.)
Community of Creatives
#dancelab is one of several projects that we have done this year that bring the museum together with Denver’s growing community of creatives. Our Creative-in-Residence program, our In Motion installation on the plaza, and Tableau are all projects in which the DAM and the creatives co-create projects that push visitors’ notions of what art can be and invite a different kind of action and interactivity. With all of these projects the DAM becomes a platform for creatives to think of new possibilities for their work and practice.
About Wonderbound
Wonderbound started in 2007, led by husband–and–wife duo Garrett Ammon and Dawn Fay. Collaboration is key to their practice. For Wonderbound the notion that dance is a truly social art form is a core value, and made them the perfect fit for #dancelab.
Behind the scenes: Legwork Studio capturing moves by a Wonderbound dancer in preparation for #dancelab.
About Legwork Studio
Legwork Studio is a Denver-based, interactive design studio built on “creativity, innovation, and a DIY ethic.” They create animated, digital, and physical experiences with leading brands and agencies all over the world. For Legwork, technology is especially powerful, when it is used to connect and unite people, another natural fit for #dancelab.
