Dunne wanted find a way to present traditional Irish dance within a contemporary piece and an introduction to Sean Westgate of media server specialist Green Hippo by director Sinead Rushe, was the beginning of an evolutionary creative process which was to do just that.
"It is nearly a year ago since we all first met in London," recalls Dunne, "me not really knowing anything about film technology at this end - and Sean not knowing anything about bloody Irish dance at his end! We were not sure what the Hippotizer was really about and were a bit intimidated by it at first. However, a workshop session with Sean in June showed us what it could do and gave us a sense of its versatility."
Using video footage of dancers from 1930s to 1970s - including himself as a 10-year-old performing on the children's programme Blue Peter - Dunne wanted to use projection to bring aspects of Irish dance to the stage which, in a solo piece, he could not do alone. The video content and presentation had to show different facets of dance, some playing independently, some incorporating the action on stage in a more interactive way as he danced alongside it.
The challenge for Sean was how to integrate the vital video footage into the dance piece without overpowering Dunne's performance in the intimate, close confines of the Glór. A large screen was ruled out on this basis and because of the difficulty of concealing it when not in use and of transporting it on tour.
The answer came in a number of odd-size boxes which were to double as both dance surfaces and projection surfaces. These boxes could be danced on, opened out, arranged in different configurations and repositioned by Dunne throughout the performance. Sean was then able to use a Hippotizer Express to keystone the images and map them precisely onto the boxes in each position. Intensity levels were also adapted to fit in with Colin Randall's lighting, so the boxes glowed gently, drawing them into a coherent whole with the rest of the lighting.
"I don't know how we would have done it without the Hippotizer," says Dunne. "The films look beautiful, and the Hippo is a genius. After our initial reserve we found it was very simple to get to grips with and our very talented sound designer Fionan de Barra, was able to operate it during the show whilst making small edits and adjustments as we went along. The moveable timelines mean the footage can be brought in on the dancer's cue rather than dictating the flow of movement to the dancer. This gives more flexibility and room for interpretation and the dancer is not restricted in any way by the technology."
Sean prepared the video clips and spent three days programming the timelines before leaving it with the technical crew. "Part of the beauty of the Hippotizer is how it lends itself to small-scale projects as well as the larger shows in which our customers may be more used to seeing it," explains Sean. "The results we achieved were very subtle. The set up is also very economical and practical for touring (all was projected using an inexpensive projector and a DMX controllable Wahlberg projector shutter) because of the absence of large screens to transport and the adaptability of the Hippotizer in the different sized venues to which the show will be travelling."
(Lee Baldock)
