A Graphical Representation of Choreography by Adapting Shape Grammar

Abstract

With an increase in the integration of research domains, finding conceptual similarities between two fields is becoming important. this paper investigates the similarities between the concepts of choreography design process developed by a leading postmodernist American choreographer, Trisha Brown for one of her dance piece, Locus, which is based on a neutral bit of English statement. The concept of the choreography design process is analogized with the concept of shape grammar-a design generation tool often used in the computational design domain. Through literature reviews, we find that there is a possibility of conceptual similarities. After making analogical comparisons, the generative rules implemented by Trisha Brown for choreography design are applied to graphical visualization using shape grammar. Not only does this case study graphically represent Locus but at the same time, by bringing the two concepts together, it creates a generative system that turns words into forms. Moreover, it provides experimental and theoretical background for expanding research in the field of human-space interaction and linguistics.