Music-Dance Mediations
Performative Explorations into an Asymmetrical Type of the Swedish Polska
Time: Mon 2025-01-20 13.00
Location: Kungasalen, Kungliga Musikhögskolan, Valhallavägen 105
Video link: https://kth-se.zoom.us/j/61613077491
Language: English
Subject area: Media Technology
Doctoral student: Olof Misgeld , Medieteknik och interaktionsdesign, MID, Department of Folk Music, Royal College of Music, Stockholm, Sweden;, Creative Media Technology
Opponent: Professor Joshua Dickson, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Supervisor: Associate Professor Andre Holzapfel, Medieteknik och interaktionsdesign, MID; Professor Sven Ahlbäck, Department of Folk Music, Royal College of Music, Stockholm, Sweden;
QC 20241206
Abstract
This thesis collects a series of works that engage with Swedish folk music, dance, theory and practice. The studies provide insights into the articulation of rhythm and meter in a local style of the Swedish polska and the interactions between such elements in music and dance performances. The studies exemplify a novel combination of diverse methodologies, including music and dance performance data analysis, design methods, and artistic methods in support of practice-led investigations conducted in close collaboration with the involved dancers. A preliminary concept for accessible sonification of motion captured folk dance is presented, focusing on contextually informed selections of movement parameters. This mediation of movement data through sonification plays a central role in exploring music theory concepts by applying them in artistic practice. The results illustrate the multidimensional character of sound and movement interactions within the local polska type. In addition, artistic works are presented that transcend the participatory performance context of polska dance and explore new artistic potential in the practice of playing for dancing in Swedish folk.