YCAM Dance Crew

Visitors to this interactive event can film themselves dancing, and subsequently process the records of their performance.

Considering developments in media technology, trends in the field of education toward making dance classes compulsory, and the growing importance of choreography in the music scene , in recent years the dance scene has experienced an unprecedented wave of innovation, which in turn resulted in the emergence of new types of creations and creators.

Installed at the venue are filming booths [sa1] equipped with built-in sensors and special cameras. As soon as a visitor enters one of them and begins to dance, his/her movements are instantly detected and recorded. Based on the resulting data, visitors can then arrange their performance by modifying the footage, such as adding effects that make the dance look more original, or replacing their own bodies with those of other characters. Furthermore, the images created that way can be forwarded to the respective persons’ smartphones, to be uploaded to social media, or used in other ways.

One booth will be installed in the community space near the entrance of the YCAM building, and another one on the exterior wall that faces the Saiseikai Yamaguchi Hospital. The area in front of the big glass wall is normally used by Yamaguchi resident dance fans in their 10s and 20s as a place for practicing dance moves. The additional effects that appear in accordance with the visitors’ movements, transform the wall into an entirely new kind of “mirror.”

On certain days – mainly Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays – during the event period, members of YCAM’s own “InterLab” research and development team assist the visitors with the creation of their dance movies. Anyone who has ideas but doesn’t know how to realize them, is encouraged to ask the staff for creative inspiration or technical advice.