Hybrid Rituals — UdK 50 years celebration @Unit Theater

In the first part of the piece, we incorporated and adapted elements of the former project Sentire, a research-based artistic work that uses interactive technology to trigger and modulate sound based on the proximity and touch between two or more people. We created new sound environments, specifically designed and named such system Proximity and Touch. This work is rooted in the philosophical ideas of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, exploring the ineffability of the sensations of nearness and touch, and draws on Edward T. Hall’s theory of proxemics, which categorizes physical space into public, social, personal and intimate zones. Proximity and Touch explores how our perception shifts depending on how someone approaches or touches us — and how these shifts can be made audible and tangible through sound.

By implementing this system in the performance, we invited both performer and audience to become attuned to subtle, bodily perceptions — how our awareness of ourselves and others transforms through proximity and touch. Using wearable sensors and real-time sound modulation, we turned human interaction into a live instrument. As the performer gradually invited audience members onto the stage and handed over the sensor bracelets, new sonic relationships emerged. A dialogue unfolded — not through words, but through distance, gesture and presence — encouraging a deeper awareness of boundaries, vulnerability and connection.

In the second part of the performance, we ventured into the interplay between virtual space and physical movement, bringing together our work in 3D environments with the embodied language of dance. At the center of this exploration is a single object: a mobile screen, fitted with a Vive Tracker paired with base stations, the tracker allows for precise spatial mapping, but instead of using it in the conventional way — tied to a performer’s body — we chose to let the screen itself become the performer.

This screen, in its movement, acts as a portal: framing fragmented glimpses of a digital world constructed from 3D scans and imagined landscapes. As it glides across the stage, it reveals not only new visual perspectives but invites a shifting of perception itself. The screen is no longer a passive surface; it becomes a character with agency, a lens through which reality and imagination blur.

At a certain moment, the performer turned and asked the audience a simple but disarming question: “What do you see?”. With this gesture, the performance opened up. Meaning is no longer dictated from the stage, it is co-authored in real time. Audience responses were fed back into the system, shaping the projected visuals through an AI image-generation model. What emerged is a shared narrative: one that accepts ambiguity, celebrates multiplicity and reveals how understanding is always partial, always in motion. The boundary between seeing and being seen, between performer and observer, dissolved. In shifting the frame — both literally and metaphorically — we offered the audience a role not just as viewers, but as participants in the unfolding of meaning. The artwork became a conversation, and its final form was never fixed, but always becoming.

Part1: ENGAGE

Exploring proximity and touch interactively through sound, light, dance and audience engagement

At the beginning of the performance, a dancer enters the stage and approaches an antenna positioned at the center. This antenna is equipped with a proximity and touch sensor, developed from the earlier Sentire project (sentire.me), which detects nearness and physical contact to modulate sound in real-time using SuperCollider. The performer begins by exploring a variety of movement patterns around the antenna, gradually uncovering the relationship between spatial positioning and the dynamic behavior of the soundscape. These movements are performed by Javier Blanco, whose dual role as choreographer and dancer brings an acute physical sensitivity to the stage. With each gesture, Blanco tests the space like an instrument, composing live sound through nearness, hesitation and touch. The audience is drawn in to witness a dance where an intimate dialogue emerges between body and system—an evolving relationship marked by sensitivity and responsiveness.

As the interaction continues, the performer extends the experience to the audience by inviting an individual from the seating area onto the stage. The performer hands over a wearable bracelet sensor—connected to the antenna system—to the participant, allowing them to co-create sound through their movements. Over time, three more audience members are invited to join, forming a 2:2 grouping. With two people connected by hand, they become a joined entity which react to the sound together. The space transforms into a collaborative field of embodied interaction, where sound responds dynamically to the evolving choreography of distance, touch and interpersonal presence. This segment foregrounds the emotional and perceptual nuances of closeness, inviting both participants and observers to reflect on the sonic implications of human connection.

Blurring the boundaries between the virtual and the real through movement, AI-generated visuals and collective imagination

The second part of the performance begins as the sound fades out and the performer introduces a moving screen. This screen, equipped with a motion tracker, functions as a dynamic window into a virtual environment created in Unreal Engine. As performer rotates and positions the screen, it reveals a 3D digital world, allowing the audience to explore the space from different angles based on the screen’s movement. The dancer is animating the screen with a precise, embodied score. His movements transform the object into a co-performer—one that glides, halts and pivots as if guided by intention. The choreography blurs the line between body and equipment, using dance to question what is seen, and how. This virtual world is one of two distinct visual elements in the performance; the other is an AI-generated projection displayed on a larger screen.

Live visuals from the moving screen’s video feed are streamed in real-time to StreamDiffusion—an AI-powered image generation pipeline integrated into TouchDesigner. During the performance, the dancer engages with the audience, asking them what they see. Their responses serve as prompts for StreamDiffusion, dynamically transforming the projected imagery to reflect the audience’s input. This interactive process brings their collective imagination to life, merging virtual exploration with generative creativity.

Simultaneously, a live-generated soundscape composed with the VCV Rack virtual modular synthesizer underscores the entire experience. The audio design reacts to the dancer’s movements and aims to create a slightly dimmed, atmospheric mood that enhances the sense of uncertainty in a world composed of fragmented, incoherent 3D-scanned objects. Together, the visuals and sound build a layered, immersive environment where reality and imagination blur.