From capture to texture: affective environments for theatre training in virtual reality (VR)

ABSTRACT The notion of ‘pre-expressivity' is central to the field of ‘theatre anthropology', explored by Eugenio Barba and his theatre group Odin Teatret. It refers to the elementary level of the energetic dynamics that render an actor's body scenically ‘alive' and 'present'. In the current study, we explore the potential of immersive technologies and bodily interaction interfaces for supporting the transmission of embodied knowledge. We begin by outlining a critical epistemological framework that calls for new accounts of knowledge distribution. We describe the process of mapping different training strands developed by Odin Teatret's actors, using motion capture technology. Further on, we approach the translation of such embodied practices into data and, consequently, into an immersive experience of archival navigation. In our study, we used audiovisual objects as environmental constraints, what we term as immersive archi-textures, and employ Laban efforts applied to motion capture data analysis as a model for qualifying movement patterns. We will base our writings on a particular experiment, which has captured Odin actress Roberta Carreri’s exercise Six States of Water within the virtual archive. In this exercise, the trainee is called to perform a specific score of actions with different qualities of energy, translated as different states of water.