Affective topologies and virtual tactile experiences in theatre training

Abstract

My experience as a performer is largely informed by my long-term connection with the Bridge of Winds group, led by Iben Nagel Rasmussen. As a practitioner-researcher however, I am engaged on a new journey, where my embodied knowledge is guiding the construction of a virtual archive for theatre practices. During this process, one of the main issues we are facing is that of renegotiating the sense of touch in virtual spaces. As the refined tactile feedback from my masters has taught me to reconnect with the present continuously; is it possible to create this sense of learning via interactive, virtually designed spaces? While aiming at building an immersive space which one can train in and with, what tactics can we imagine to evoke touch-like experiences of force, weight, pressure, connection and above all, care? Furthermore, can such spaces shift the boundaries of what we might understand as touch? These writings are informed by an experiment which translates Odin actress Roberta Carreri’s workshop Dance of Intentions into a virtual archive. Whilst critically approaching this textural translation process and raising the social-political implications of such translations, I will suggest ways in which designed immersive environments can renegotiate tactile experiences in theatre training.