How can I live-stream my work so it doesn’t look like it’s a “confined in my room dance?”

The Absent Umbra

Live online performance via zoom. May 2020

The Absent Umbra is a live solo performance that conveys loneliness and captivity through shadow-play between the performer and four egg-size cutouts.

The work was made exclusively for online viewing through ZOOM during this pandemic. Unlike performing a pre-existing dance in front of an immobile webcam, the camera was precisely relocated from spot to spot as part of the dance's choreography, similar to a long shot in cinema, to present the work from different aspects. Live-chatting to the viewers became part of the content to further bridge the gap between online and live performance as opposed to a pre-recorded and edited product.

THE DANCE ENTHUSIAST
Ye focused on presentation rather than new technology, so she stuck with Zoom for her live-streamed performance. She considered the camera as a tool to navigate the space or instigate a new point of view. Her explorations had a problem-solving component too: She moved apartments several times during her process, and each space required new camera angles and set design.
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