Love in multimedia

It used to be that the oral tradition was enough to pass on stories. Nowadays, things are slightly more complicated, and artists must contend with a competing array of media to present that message.

Not a Love Story (非愛情故事) is a first offering from the Image in Motion Theatre Company, which combines dance and visual arts in a staged performance. It is a synthesis of traditional dance and technological innovation and an attempt to meld 21st century art forms such as techno music and digital effects with classical ballet.

The result is an entirely new interface with a colorful new set of connections between people and machines, where dancers respond not just to music and each other but also to computer-generated and video images, in a production which aims to both entertain and tell a story.

The theater company was founded last year following the meeting of two minds: director and Hollwood animator Yau Chen (陳瑤) and dance company choreographer and former head of the dance department at the National Institute of the Arts in Kuandu, Ku Ming-shen (古名伸).

"It started with a conversation two years ago," says Ku of her meeting with Chen. "Since then we have been cooking up the idea and what we have come up with is a totally original stagework that combines technology and dance."

Chen had been working in commercial filmmaking and special effects and wanted to reach beyond the limitations of this medium. "People are interesting," she says, "But breathing and sweat is more moving and impressive than just computer graphics."

Ku, on the other hand, was seeking to capture and present movement in a more complete and visually exciting way.

"Modern dance sometimes seems abstract, hard to understand," Chen says. "Through this kind of collaboration we can show the real world and the virtual world and how they overlap."

An original score has been composed for the show by the singer Mira Lin (林慧玲), and will include both electronic and live performances.

Dancers from two dance companies will interact with video images, animation shots and real-time live action projected on four giant screens.

At points, the dancers even get to dance with their virtual selves, as motion-capture filming of the dancers forms the basis of a lot of the video images that are projected on the stage.

It will also appear that animated images are dancing with the live performers, not just in two dimensions, but in three dimensions when the visuals are projected onto dry ice. Chen says she has always dreamt of dancing with a hologram. "I want to create a new environment for a new experience." She says Not a Love Story is "about everything in life, everything that is romantic, beautiful and realistic," and she has chosen the narrative element of the show carefully.

Not a Love Story is a fairy tale, originally from Bruges in Holland, that was passed on orally long before it was written down.

It tells of a young girl who dreams constantly of her Mr. Right. She imagines what he will look like and how he will be.

A young woman moves into the area and the two become acquainted. She tells him about her idea of her perfect man.

One day he finds a picture and gives it to the girl. It turns out that the figure in the picture is exactly the person she dreams of as her perfect mate, so she prays that the portrait will come to life.