This document records the online discussion for Lehman College’s LEH 353 ‘Studies in the Arts: Dance and Media’ (Spring 2026). The instructor posted a prompt directing students to a slide‑deck that showcases a range of historic and contemporary works where dance intersects with technology – from early motion‑capture experiments (Bill T. Jones’s Ghostcatching) to Maya Deren’s film choreography, Norman McLaren’s visual effects, Alwin Nikolais’s color‑synchronization, TikTok’s viral dance culture, and recent CGI‑enhanced pieces by Wayne McGregor, FKA twigs, and motion‑capture installations. Students posted short reflective entries describing what struck them about each work, how media (camera, editing, AR/VR, motion capture, gaming, social platforms) reshapes choreography, audience experience, and the ontology of the dancer’s body. The instructor (Brian McCormick) interjects with brief analytical comments, often highlighting the historical lineage, the human‑technology dialogue, and concerns about AI‑generated choreography. The overall narrative demonstrates a pedagogical exploration of how digital tools expand, transform, and sometimes threaten the embodied practice of dance.
Topics
Ghostcatching: Early Motion‑Capture as Visual Poetry
Student and instructor reflections on Bill T. Jones, Paul Kaiser, and Shelley Eshkar’s *Ghostcatching*, focusing on its use of motion‑capture to render dancer movement as animated line‑drawings that trace the body’s after‑image.