Embodiment

Wayfinding: Spotlights > The Performers' Experience > Embodiment

One way to reconnect audience and performers is through embodiment, which I discussed in more detail in the Virtual Reality Theatre section. : ‘The recent advancement of position tracking in XR allows users to bring their bodies into experiences as instruments to naturally deal with space and movement’. This three-dimensional space can immerse performers and audience convincing world, especially when viewed through a VR headset. My research with OnBoardXR, for example, demonstrated that performance makers were likely to make shows that interacted with the audience in some way. One performer, VR comedian Andy North, engaged the audience at his standup routine OBXR6 through a combination of traditional theatre and virtual options, encouraging the audience to turn their mics on so he could hear them laugh or groan, or to ‘throw’ emojis like the applause hands if they felt inspired to react. Audience avatars embodied their reactions to North’s jokes, which is a familiar form of encouragement for live performers.

Virtual reality seems more likely to encourage a sense of embodiment through the performer's avatar, as regarding VR/motion capture dance productions: ‘It is this process of ‘taking on’ and internalising the traits of these avatars that seems to enhance the personalisation of the experience, where one starts to identify, and to feel and act differently’. For dancers, Strutt suggests, feedback from fellow performers in real-time ‘enhances the sensation of deep kinaesthetic embodiment within the avatar form’.

Embodiment through dance or movement is also part of some video streaming platforms, in the form of ‘challenges’ or reaction videos. In his article ‘TikTok is Theatre, Theatre is TikTok’, :

TikTok centers the body, something the platform achieves through internet memes that have come to dominate contemporary US popular culture. … On TikTok, memes rely on TikTokers featuring their bodies in addition to audiovisual cues such as trending sound bites and video effects that complete the meme. … On TikTok, you become the meme. You become the performer even if you don’t’ realize – or think – you’re performing. … TikTokers know upfront that the possibility of being memes is part of the agreement of publicly posting on the site.

On TikTok, audiences show their reaction to a popular video by becoming a performer and embodying their reaction through their own video post. This proves that audiences are engaged, if the original video’s creator sees the reaction videos; however, there is a temporal delay between original performance and embodied responses, while there is much less of a time delay in traditional in-person theatre. : ‘The latency of most digital technologies does not allow for simultaneous playing and synchronization. Even though co-created videos circulated widely, they depended entirely on editing artistry to create a feeling of synchronicity’.