Multi-award winning digital dance performance Hidden Fields is a high-impact and accessible show constructed using the “danceroom Spectroscopy” technology, and has arisen through a unique collaboration between a talented group of scientists, artists, and engineers. Using rigorous methods from computational physics and state-of-the-art computing, Hidden Fields interprets dancers as fields whose movement creates ripples and waves in an invisible sea of energy. The result is a gentle piece comprised of interactive graphics and soundscapes, both of which respond in real-time to how the dancers use their movement to sculpt the invisible fields in which they are embedded. Hidden Fields offers a unique and subtle glimpse into the beauty of our everyday movements, allowing us to imagine how we interact with the hidden energy matrix and atomic world which forms the fabric of nature, but is too small for our eyes we rarely see. It’s as much a next-generation dance piece as it is an invitation to contemplate emergence, dissipation, and the interconnected dynamism of the natural world – from the microscopic to the cosmic.

The name “Hidden Fields” was chosen to emphasize the performance’s intention to provide a glimpse into the energy fields in which we are embedded, but which we cannot see with our naked eyes. Hidden Fields is a complex and non-traditional performance, with every part (physics, graphics, sound, movement) impacting every other part. It operates with a rolling team of contributors whose specialties span research science, computer science, visual arts, composition, sonic technology, and dance.

The first version of Hidden Fields was shown in Bristol (UK) on 21st July 2012 at the Arnolfini, with contributions from David Glowacki (project lead), Phill Tew (visual artist), Joseph Hyde (sound), Thomas Mitchell (sonic interaction design), Laura Kriefman (choreography), Lisa May Thomas (dance), Emma Harrie (dance), Isabelle Cressy (dance), Kerry Trevaskis (dance), Kathleen Downie (dance), James Price (programming), Simon McIntosh Smith (high-performance computing), Nathan Hughes (film), Jacob Parish (film), and Paul Blakemore (photography).

The second version of Hidden Fields was shown in Bristol (UK) on 25th October 2013, in a 360-degree immersive projection dome, at an event produced by the Watershed with a range of additional sponsors. Contributions came from David Glowacki (project lead), Phill Tew (visual artist), Joseph Hyde (sound), Thomas Mitchell (sonic interaction design), Sarah Warden (production), Laura Kriefman (choreography), Laila Diallo (choreography), Phoebe Baker (costumes), Lisa May Thomas (dance), Emma Harrie (dance), Miyako Asano (dance), Tomomi Kosano (dance), Micheal O’Connor (programming), James Price (programming), Simon McIntosh Smith (high-performance computing), Nathan Hughes (film), Adam Laity (film), and Paul Blakemore (photography).