#SVOBODAYS
Research and perspectives
How do theater education programs handle the shift
toward digital technologies in stage production?
This question is at the heart of a study conducted during the #Svobodays tour
through interviews with a hundred teachers and students,
to provide a European overview of the current situation,
and share innovative ideas, solutions and practices.
Study on teaching
Scenography 2.0
In this study, the generic term Advanced Technologies encompasses various tools and media that entered the stage in the 21st century, each representing new training requirements: video mapping, spatialized sound, LED lighting and robotic projectors, programming, Arduino, intermedia control, MIDI systems, CAD and 3D modeling. While not exhaustive, this list reflects the quantity of new skills required today to work in performing arts
Without attempting to provide students with expert-level knowledge across all these techniques, the aim is to highlight the fundamental skills necessary so that each individual can, according to their own interests, continue their development through workshops, self-training, and personal experimentation, to explore the artistic and dramaturgical potential of technologies.
The research findings indicate that participating schools encounter similar recurring challenges: inadequate equipment, limited dedicated spaces, insufficient teacher training, and scheduling constraints. A persistent concern is maintaining the delicate balance between artistic and technical instruction. The study synthesizes several future directions to better support schools through this transition.
This project has initiated an international network. Research groups are being formed, study days are being organized, in connection with various laboratories, manufacturers, artists, designers, technicians and research groups. Among the selected themes are the transition to LED, the evolution of professions, and eco-design.
The emerging idea is to create an observatory, or research hub,
to continue examining current practices in advanced stage technologies and the training needs they generate
Technology, what for?
Throughout the various #Svobodays events, this question, discussed with students, teachers and stage professionals,
has served as a running theme connecting dramaturgy, stage design and creative technologies.
Technology, what for?
Here are some key findings identified during the #Svobodays tour:
- To reveal the invisible
- To declutter the stage and dematerialize the space
- To go beyond the body’s boundaries
- To re-enchant the world
- To create new interactions with the public
- To look for the 4th dimension
- To create worlds that speak to our world
- More to follow...
The stage has always had close relationships with
the technologies of its time, but technology, what for ?
As some theatre practitioners consider that an actor and a stage floor
could be enough to make theatre, some others never cease to test,
divert and transform technological means, to renew the scenic vocabulary.
Josef Svoboda is one of them, who has always been
on the lookout for scientific and technical progress,
making him one of the pioneers of 21st century technologies.
The world of theater is often one of the first domains to implement
new technologies. Always seeking new means of expression,
media that don't use language but engage the senses
and change perception. Such means exist today,
in increasingly intangible, immersive or interactive forms,
to bring new dimensions. But technology what for?
Sometimes it's fascination for the technology itself,
but most often, it's the need for a specific effect
or rather a specific vocabulary adapted to the ongoing creation.
Technological innovations then become artistic tools.
Documentation and links
Article of the MIT Media Lab: “Augmented Performance in Dance and Theater”
The World of Theatre, M.Felner & C.Orenstein
Open source chapter : "Technology and theatrical innovation"
"Théâtre in the Age of Digital Technologies" - O.Tonkoshkura
"Media in performance: Interactive spaces for dance, theater, circus and museum exhibits"
F. Sparacino - G. Davenport - A. Pentland
Web Articles :
Tech and the Theatre : "You Don’t Have to Be an Actor to Be a Star!" - W.D.Mills
Discovering Theater Tech Innovations: Transforming Stage Performances with Advanced Technology
Théâtre 2.0 : quand le spectacle vivant se frotte aux technologies XR - M.Grugier
"Des technologies pour mieux servir le théâtre" - S.Martin-Lahmani