One of a kind dance performance is the brainchild of neuroscience and art. When it comes to science, the human mind would inevitably shift towards thinking about chemicals in test tubes, DNA or even the exciting world of quantum physics. However, Leonardo Da Vinci, Nicola Tesla, Omar Khayyam and many others have shown us that science also has a place in art, from paintings to designs and poetry. Similarly, McMaster University witnessed another combination of art and science during Dance Brain, which took place last week at the university’s Large Interactive Visual Environment Lab, better known as the LIVELab housed in the psychology complex. Dance Brain is a performance where the dancer’s el
Bill Coleman is the winner of the 2018 Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts! The Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts recognizes the highest level of artistic excellence and distinguished career achievement by a Canadian professional artist in music, theatre or dance. The prize is awarded on a four-year cycle in dance, theatre, dance and music. Bill Coleman is currently working with cognitive scientists, and touring his recent creations Dollhouse and FELT. Congrats to this outstanding artist!
“Dance Brain is a highly innovative performance work in which brainwaves are converted into music in real time, which is then danced to. It interfaces neuroscience and performance practice, and takes advantage of the state-of-the-art technology in the LIVELab at McMaster University, Hamilton.” That description, from the Facebook page for an event at McMaster on September 20 this year, certainly piqued my attention – yet I had a feeling for what may be brewing at the LIVELab. As an undergrad studying electronic and many other music genres at York University in the very early to mid-1970s, I witnessed and also participated in pioneering brainwave music experiments and performances under the di
