Choreographic Objects: contemporary dance, digital creations, and prototyping social visibility

International audienceSeveral successful contemporary dance companies in Europe are experimenting with new ways ofpresenting choreography and movement utilising digital media. Here, an analysis is offered of thecontext in which these innovations are stimulated, focusing on their efforts to demonstrate thatcontemporary dance is a ‘knowledge-producing’ endeavour. I tie this to the demands ofknowledge economies. I then offer an analysis of specific projects and the ‘choreographic objects’that result from them utilising exchange theory drawn in part from Melanesian anthropology. Theresulting analysis of things-in-the-making and things-in-circulation reveals how choreographicobjects are shaped by dance practitioners’ views of themselves, their interests, and their desire tocontrol perceptions of their practice as well as by the need to find an appropriate mode in whichto demonstrate the value of this practice through the transfer of knowledge. The move towards‘knowledge production’ and towards recasting relationships with audiences are construed asexperiments with the form of social relations through new forms of transaction. I come to representthe digital creations of dance companies as ‘prototype’ forms for relational engagementwith audiences and the wider public