Dancing with Landscapes: My First Steps into 360 Art
.jpg "Dancing with Landscapes: My First Steps into 360 Art")
I’ve just taken my first classes with the Rambert Dance Company, exploring contemporary fusion, ballet, and even Bollywood movement. What surprised me most was how close this felt to my experience in music composition. Both disciplines start with structure, rhythm, and discipline — but it’s the moments of freedom, the unexpected improvisations, that create something alive.
Now I’m taking those ideas into a new experimental form: fusing dance, music, and immersive 360° landscapes.
Why 360?
Most people know 360 technology from gaming, VR headsets, or maybe museum tours. But at its heart, 360 isn’t about gadgets — it’s about perspective. Imagine standing inside a landscape rather than looking at it framed in a rectangle. You can turn your head and choose where to focus.
For me, this opens up new possibilities:
-
My music can envelop the listener.
-
My landscapes become immersive environments rather than backgrounds.
-
My dance can be placed in dialogue with the space, sometimes framed in 2D, sometimes appearing inside the sphere.
Dance and Music as Parallel Practices
When I practice cello or piano, I often begin with small, repetitive movements — scales, exercises, fragments. In dance, it is much the same: a plié, a turn, a shift of weight. These fragments grow into phrases, which grow into complete works.
Whether I’m composing music, learning a ballet sequence, or improvising in a 360 landscape, I’m engaging with the same process:
-
Structure (form, discipline, rhythm)
-
Expression (tone, gesture, dynamics)
-
Exploration (what happens if…?)
It feels like one continuous practice, expressed through different mediums.
Accessibility Matters
I don’t expect everyone to own a VR headset. That’s why my work will always have multiple entry points:
-
On YouTube, you can explore 360 on your phone or computer by dragging the screen.
-
The dance sequences will be presented in 2D as well, either as overlays or separate films.
-
In future, I’m curious about two-screen experiences: imagine holding your phone for dance while being immersed in the 360 landscape on another device.
This way, the work remains open to all — a philosophy that feels important in a world where technology can sometimes exclude as much as it inspires.
What’s Next?
This is just the beginning. In my next post, I’ll explore the challenge of combining 2D dance with 360° landscapes — and why limitations can actually spark creativity.
For now, I invite you to think of 360 not as a tech gimmick, but as a new stage, a new canvas, and a new kind of instrument. One where dance, music, and environment can finally move as one.
👉 This is Part 1 of my experimental art journey in 360. Follow along for Part 2, where I’ll dive deeper into the fusion of 2D and immersive movement.
https://www.iservalan.com/2025/08/when-2d-dance-meets-360-landscapes-part.html
