Exploring the positionalities of dancer, choreographer and editor in screendance from the perspective of surveillance

Abstract

This paper is a self-review and reflection of a screendance choreographic project, arguing that screendance is an art form that invites surveillance. Surveillance, seen as a power of watching, was distributed to three positionalities (choreographer, dancer and video editor, all encapsulated in an individual with only one exception) in managing the choreography, dance and video editing. This power of watching was embedded in the relationship between watching through camera lenses and the positionalities. The analysis of panopticon and synopticon was later applied to extend the idea of self-surveillance and the viewer society in the screendances, respectively. Also, these screendances brought insight into the power negotiations of positionalities during the choreographic process. And this decentralisation of control will also be discussed in the paper.