Although this will ultimately be about dance, it all started with Arcade Fire.

Recently, I downloaded Google Chrome and have been quite happy with the features. I enjoy the downloads landing pad at the base of the screen. The black and white lightening bolt pattern I've applied as my theme keeps things interesting. And my password and autofill settings are considered "Personal Stuff" which makes the world wide web experience seem more like my junk drawer- full of strange stuff, but useful because I know where to look when I need some batteries. This analogy might be stretching it, but I'd like to segue into this idea of individualization. Cue Arcade Fire...

With the help of Google's Chrome Experiment, Arcade Fire made their music video, The Wilderness Downtown, to the song "We Used to Wait" both individualized and interactive. Type in the street address of your first home, as they suggest, and watch the music video bring footage of your house via Google Earth to life in the context of their music. The new platform specifies the media to your personal story. Not only was I engaged visually through recognizable footage, but the lyrics had knew meaning.

Moving along to dance, OK GO partnered with Pilobolous through a Chrome Experiment to shape their music video for the song "All is Not Lost"- coined a video dance message. Rather than type in your address, you type in a message that is magically translated through the dance. To see my specialized message, click on the following- DanceNYC JComm OK GO Pilobolous message, let it load, and click play. (NOTE- do not move around the windows. Part of the experience is designed in the in the flow of the windows.) Dance in this context is literally reframed, and the audience member, if we can call ourselves that from our computers, directs the choreography to spell out their message. After realizing the empowerment of the individualized product, I quickly thought of the potential for these types of experiments to act as choreographic tools. Is it possible to interact with the audience  pre-performance on the basis of choreography? What does it mean/suggest to have an active audience even before the performance?

Another interactive dance module online quite literally says it all- Jacobs Pillow's new Dance Interactive. Search by Artist, Genre, or Era and discover dance artists that suit your liking through one minute clips with accompanying text. For example- follow up your "All is Not Lost" experiment with information on Pilobolous at Jacob's Pillow. Take it one step further, play their guessing game and test your knowledge of the dance greats the graced Jacob's Pillow.

Dance Interactive allowed me as a virtual audience member to exercise my creative license and curate my own digital video experience. Similar to OK GO/Pilobolous, and our band friends Arcade Fire, each platform shares the premise to turn viewing into more than just staring. The onlooker is encouraged to participate by providing the base material that stems from a personal idea- be it a message to be danced or a category to be explored. In other words, the audience member becomes a virtual choreographer- navigating the digital ether and making the calls step by step. Of course, to those of you reading this who don't have Google Chrome, my apologies, I did not mean to exclude. But I would like to suggest that new movements, such as interactive dance media, specifically require the Junior Committee generation to be experimental and flirt with creative sharing  in the form of digital exchange. Give an idea and get a dance.