Ontological shifts: Multi-sensoriality and embodiment in a third wave of digital interfaces

Examining the ontology and place of digital dance within the spectrum of contemporary choreographic expression, this article proposes to consider the interweaving of interoceptive (somatic) and exteroceptive (technological) agency in a third wave of digital interfaces for dance. It argues that an ontology of digital dance might be summarily qualified as an active sensory-perceptual mode of experiencing, capable of revealing new dimensions of aesthetic reception, modes of performativity and expressions of corporeal presence in dance that emerge with/through the mediated body. It views technology not as a foreign, autonomous agency, system or simple tool, but rather as a means of stimulating heightened sensory awareness and forging relations with the individual’s somatic (inner) bodily experience. while referencing a range of recent works that establish the conditions for such experiences, it further proposes to consider how digital works develop and underscore perspective as a dramaturgical strategy and aesthetic, and as a consequence, how new media interfaces for dance can be considered ‘new viewing-sensing devices’.