STOCOS Dance in a Synergistic Environment

STOCOS is a dance performance that combines stochastic processes and artificial life based simulations in order to create mutual aesthetic and behavioral dependencies between dancers, simulated entities, music and imagery. At the core of Stocos lies the notion of a synergistic environment whose physical and virtual characteristics are interrelated via simulations of natural phenomena. The environment is populated by natural and artificial entities whose mutual perception and engagement alternate between different forms of autonomy and dependency. The choreographic structure of the performance emerges from these changing behavioral relationships. Stocos is centered on the analysis and development of gestural relationships between dancers, music and simulated entities. The activities of the dancers, music and visuals relate to each other via underlying processes of brownian movement and flocking behavior. A dense network of mutual influences emerges that establishes coherency among the spatial, perceptional and behavioral properties of its natural and artificial participants.