Workshop Statement

National Academy of Dramatic Arts, Paris

The “Rythme(s) d’espaces” workshop is based on a hybrid scenographic device. A physical staircase of four steps and a length of 7.20 meters is reproduced and co-located in a virtual space. Three participants (wearing VR headsets) react to dynamic variations of the virtual staircase, thus influencing their physical presence. The representation of the virtual space(s) inhabited by the participants are projected on a large screen. At times co-present, at times alone, they evolve in fixed or animated environments. The workshop explores the balance between constraints and freedom of movement, contemplation and interactivity and questions the ability of a virtual environment to be a place for the bodies to co-inhabit.

How do these hybrid spaces give rhythm to the bodies, and how can the bodies in turn give rhythm to the representation spaces ? How to improvise together, connect and mutually transform in a physically identical and virtually different space ? How can our movements co-exist in a symbiotic and enduring manner ? How does the other experience my movements and resonate with me ? By creating a series of variations of the sense of presence of other bodies, the device is put to the test in its common habitability and its ability to create a symbiosis between the three participants. How can we co-evolve in harmony?

The workshop is based on poetic interplays and transformations between the bodies in relation to the staircase and the spaces in relation to the bodies. By showing relations of augmentation or alienation, we aim to present a critical reflection on the symbiosis between the bodies grappling with our device. The body becomes a point of connection between physicality and virtuality, a hybrid space, an expanding field to be reimagined.

The workshop will be followed by a performance in the same room.

• Rémi Sagot-Duvauroux is a film editor and VR Designer. He is part of the SACRe doctoral program (EnsAD, Paris, France) where he is working on his Ph.D: “The body-montage”. Based on the creation of artistic and experimental dispositifs, his research explores techniques and concepts of Montage as a narrative, discursive and poetic vector in immersive digital experiences. https://remisagduv.com
• Vivianna Chiotini is a scenographer and stage director. She is a member of the SACRe-PSL laboratory and the research group of the National Academy of Dramatic Arts in Paris, France, where she develops a research-creation project entitled “Dramatisation of the body-space relations: The triptych in interdisciplinary performance”. https://viviannachiotini.cargo.site