Browsing by Author "Smith, Sophy"
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Item Open Access Broken(2013-10) Smith, Sophy; Dickinson, TimBroken premiered at Warwick Arts Centre on 02 October 2013 and has been touring extensively to great acclaim ever since. Visually thrilling and full of trickery, Broken erupts onto the stage. Building on the success of international hit Scattered, Broken probes our precarious relationship with the earth, luring the audience into a world of shifting perspectives. Highly athletic dance is submerged within intricate digital imagery and original music in an unashamedly visual and adrenaline fuelled spectacle, contrasting the caves of our ancient ancestors with modern apartments of glass and steel, juxtaposing the mythical underworld where our hopes and fears are amplified with the visceral overworld of light and speed, questioning our ambivalence towards our world, that is, until disaster strikes. Hanging in suspense, diving for support and scrambling to safety, the dancers negotiate the cracks and craters of a world of illusions where nothing is quite as it seems. Broken is an unashamedly visual spectacle: ravishing, delicate and poignant taking the audience, on a journey into the earth as you have never seen it before. Following two UK tours Broken will be performed in China in autumn 2014 with future tours to Europe and the USA in the pipeline for 2015. A third UK tour is also being planned for spring 2015.Item Metadata only Charge(2017-10) Smith, SophyScore for the dance circus piece 'Charge'. Inspired by the role of electricity in the human body, Charge, our exhilarating new multi-media show, is about energy. From the electrical charge that sparks human life, to the beating of our hearts and the memories we make, six performers use dance and acrobatics to delve deep into the human body, tracing the incredible story of energy in our lives. Digital projections create a world on stage where dancers and images interact seamlessly, bringing to life stories of energy in our own bodies and humans as energy manipulators.Item Open Access The compositional processes of UK hip-hop turntable teams.(De Montfort University, 2006) Smith, SophyItem Metadata only Compositional strategies of the hip-hop turntablist(Cambridge University Press, 2000) Smith, SophyItem Metadata only Creative Collaboration and Online Social Media: Can Facebook be Used as a Tool to Support the Process of Collaborative Creation?(IGI Global, 2011) Smith, SophyItem Open Access The creative use of online social media to increase public engagement and participation in the professional arts through collaborative involvement in creative practice.(Computers and the History of Art Group, 2009-11) Smith, SophyThe success of online social media has been unprecedented, allowing millions of members to upload photos, share links and videos as well as personal information about themselves and their lifestyle preferences. Since the beginning of the 21st century, online social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Flickr have become integral to our daily lives. These new technologies have resulted in new social behaviours, which are being reflected in artistic practice. The important question is no longer whether the use of these tools will spread and reshape arts practice, but how they will do so. To date, the creative uses of online social media have been split mostly down amateur/professional lines. Whilst informal amateur groups form online groups to share and develop work or to meet other collaborators, professional artists and organisations use online social media in a more formal manner, to share information about their work online. However, online social tools offer more than merely providing alternative ways for artists and arts organisations to promote their work with a larger audience. The collaborative tools provided by online social networking sites offer new ways for artists to build creative relationships with their audience, by enabling the public to access, engage with and participate in professional arts practice, by becoming actively involved in the creative process. Online social technologies enable artists to make work differently, and in doing so offer exciting possibilities around the development of artistic practice. This paper aims to explore questions about how the use of social online tools may impact on artistic practice both in terms of the artist, and their audience, focusing on the following questions; • How can online social media be used to create and develop collaborative artistic content? • How can online social media be used to increase public engagement and participation in professional arts projects and events through a collaborative involvement in creative practice? The paper will be of interest to anyone interested in collaborative creation and also in new means of public access to professional arts practice through participation as consumers and producers.Item Open Access The creative uses of Facebook as a tool for artistic collaboration(British Informatics Society Limited, 2009) Smith, SophyFacebook has established itself as one of the major players in social networking, claiming that it helps members connect and share with the people in their lives. But what if the people you want to connect and share with are your artistic collaborators? Can Facebook be used creatively, as a collaborative artistic environment? This paper explores the creative use of Facebook as a tool for creative collaboration and establishes a number of possible models of artistic collaboration using Facebook.Item Metadata only CTx – an ecosystem of doctoral support(Routledge, 2022-01) Smith, SophyItem Open Access Dance Performance and Virtual Reality - an investigation of current practice and a suggested tool for analysis.(Taylor and Francis, 2018-08-22) Smith, SophyThe relationship between performance and VR technologies has been ongoing since the initial development of VR in the 1980s. Much has been written about the flurry of experimentation in VR and performance during the 1990s, but not much has been written about more recent work. This article is a contextualisation of recent dance practice made for/in Virtual Reality (VR) and a discussion of any characteristics of that work. For the purpose of this article, my definition of VR includes both 360 film experienced through a VR headset, as well as computer generated virtual environments, also experienced through a VR headset. This article will forefront practice, and drawing on relevant theories and frameworks, discusses the relationship between performance and virtual reality, followed by a discussion of each of the six key works, all of which premiered in 2016-7. The article goes on to outline characteristics of this work including types of creative content and the role of the audience and will provide a tool for analysing and understanding VR dance performance work as well as reflecting on the importance of interdisciplinary creative teams and collaborative partnerships.Item Metadata only Digital creativity and transdisciplinarity at postgraduate level: the design and implementation of a transdisciplinary masters programme and its implications for creative practice(Routledge, 2013) Hugill, Andrew; Smith, SophyItem Metadata only Elsoms Creates(2014-09-11) Smith, Sophy“For us it’s been an interesting process. Our first reaction was why not let’s give it a try, as it’s developed it’s become an interesting opportunity for us at Elsoms to reflect on who we are and what we do – we spend a lot of our time looking forward and planning what we’re doing in business, this is a good opportunity to stand and watch, but also to reflect on who Elsoms are, what we are and some of our values, and the people who work here” Roger Keeling, Chairman, Elsoms In Summer 2014, Transported commissioned Assault Events to work with Elsoms Seeds in Spalding as part of our Transported Live strand, developing a dance and music piece based on the company, and for the company. Assault Events, founded in 1996 by Sophy Smith (Artistic Director of Music) and Sandie Fisher (Artistic Director of Dance), are a Creative Arts company covering a broad spectrum of the arts, including contemporary dance and music. The Assault Events and Elsoms Seeds Project drew on one of Transported’s key aims to bring the arts to people where they least expect it, and this project enabled those working at Elsoms Seeds to enjoy the arts within their workplace without having to go out of their way, or disrupt their daily routine. “The main aim of this project was to make art happen where art wouldn’t normally happen” – Simon Hollingworth, Transported Elsoms Seeds was established in 1844, and although it operates with partners abroad, the company’s headquarters remains in Spalding. Over this long period of time, Elsoms has maintained its independence as a locally run family business. The idea of heritage and the sense of belonging within Lincolnshire made the company an ideal location for the project and presented an interesting focus for Assault Events to work from. As the performance was to take place within a new warehouse, Assault Events and Transported wanted the performance to be about the location, and the people. Assault Events spent an initial six weeks with Elsoms to gather information about and research into the colleagues, the daily activities at the factory and the history of Elsoms Seeds itself. A further two weeks were then spent developing music and rehearsing the performance leading up to the final event. One colleague, Katie Baxter, performed as a musician in the final event after not having played for many years. “There were different levels of engagement, including Katie playing the violin in the performance, approximately twenty colleagues who got involved in the process, other members of staff who watched on coffee breaks etc., and colleagues who just came to see the performance” – Sophy Smith, Assault Events The final piece that they created was incredibly personal to Elsoms, and it was clear within the performance that key elements of the company, such as its history and workforce, were chosen as stimulus for development by Assault Events. The project brought all the employees at Elsoms Seeds together and there was a sense amidst the Elsom employees when they viewed the final piece that the company valued and wanted to invest in the colleagues that work there. “It makes you feel patriotic to the company and have a sense of pride about where you work. It’s easy to forget where you have come from especially when the company has such a rich history” – Roger Keeling, Chairman, Elsoms “It feels strange now not having the company around and having that interaction and creativity going on” – Melanie Ebbage, Elsoms “It opened up people’s eyes to how valuable the arts can be” – Katie Baxter, Elsoms Schools across Spalding were also asked if they would be interested in getting involved in the project with Assault Events and Elsoms Seeds, and Spalding High School were keen to get involved. Workshops running alongside the project, held at South Holland Centre, focused on how performers and artists can develop a piece of visual or performance art from a stimulus, using the Elsoms Seeds project as a case study for the students. Some students from Spalding High School attended the final performances, and excerpts of the performance were also shown to the general public in Spalding Market Place after their premiere, during which Sophy from Assault Events discussed and explained the thought behind each aspect of the performance. During the course of the project, over three hundred people were involved and/or saw the final performances.Item Metadata only Embedding the Corporate Story through Performance(Routledge, 2017) Harwood, Tracy; Smith, SophyItem Open Access An evaluation of performance arts in generating business value(2016) Harwood, Tracy; Smith, SophyItem Embargo Exploration: Play in Practice - innovation through play in the postgraduate curriculum(Palsgrave Macmillan, 2018) Smith, SophyPlay is well-established as central to the learning processes of young children (including Anning (2015) Moyles (2015) and Wood and Attfield (2005)) and is included in UK state legislation, central to the Statutory Framework for Early Years Foundation Stage (2017). This chapter will counter the assumption that play-based learning is of value only to Early Years teaching and learning by outlining how it has been used to develop and carry-out research within a Higher Education postgraduate programme. By outlining a number of benefits of play-based approaches to teaching, learning and wider curriculum development at postgraduate level, this chapter demonstrates how a play-based approach to postgraduate programmes can enable programme teams to create transformative learning environments that enable risk-taking and innovation, enhancing the creative practice of learners and meet the changing needs of a contemporary workplace.Item Metadata only Facebook as a Tool for Artistic Collaboration(Springer, 2013) Smith, SophySince its foundation in 2004, Facebook has become a major force in social networking, claiming to give people“…the power to share and make the world more open and connected.” How can these tools be used by artists to connect and share with collaborators? Can Facebook be used to aid creativity, as a collaborative artistic tool or environment? Based on a practical research project, “Feedback’, this chapter focuses on the use of Facebook as a tool for creative collaboration and explores a number of possible models of artistic collaboration using the online social network.Item Metadata only 'Fragile' Soundtrack(2015-07-25) Smith, SophyMotionhouse launched its newly commissioned large-scale outdoor show Fragile in Glasgow on 25 & 26 July to be seen again on 29 & 30 August in Canterbury ay bOing! Festival. This family-friendly outdoor show is a dramatic performance of agility, precision and strength, with an original soundtrack by Sophy Smith and Tim Dickinson. The show features Motionhouse dancers who were joined by a team of highly skilled JBC operators, Motionhouse apprentices and a group of local emerging artists from Glasgow. Fragile is co-commissioned by Conflux, Merchant City Festival and Gulbenkian, University of Kent, with support from Creative Scotland, Glasgow City Council, Arts Council England and sponsored by Scot JCB and AB 2000. The newly created work builds on Motionhouse’s previous innovation between dancers and the JCB machines.Item Metadata only Hip-Hop Turntablism, Creativity and Collaboration(Ashgate, 2013) Smith, SophyItem Metadata only Intelligent acoustic rotor speed estimation for an autonomous helicopter(Elsevier, 2012-11) Passow, Benjamin N.; Gongora, Mario Augusto; Hopgood, Adrian A.; Smith, SophyAcoustic sensing to gather information about a machine can be highly beneficial, but processing the data can be difficult. In this work, a variety of methodologies have been studied to extract rotor speed information from the sound signature of an autonomous helicopter, with no a-priori knowledge of its underlying acoustic properties. The autonomous helicopter has two main rotors that are mostly identical. In order to identify the rotors’ speeds individually, a comparative evaluation has been made of learning methods with input selection, reduction and aggregation methods. The resulting estimators have been tested on unseen training data as well as in actual free-flight tests. The best results were found by using a genetic algorithm to identify the important frequency bands, a centroid method to aggregate the bands, and a neural-network estimator of the rotor speeds. This approach succeeded in estimating individual rotor speeds of an autonomous helicopter without being distracted by the other, mainly identical, rotor. These results were achieved using standard, low-cost hardware, and a learning approach that did not require any a-priori knowledge about the system's acoustic properties.Item Metadata only Kireek 2011 Championship Routine Analysis(Cambridge University Press, 2016) Smith, SophyItem Metadata only Lumen(2018-10) Smith, SophySoundtrack for the outdoor theatre performance piece 'Lumen' Lumen celebrated the people of Timișoara, who shine as the constant light of the city during the flux in the country’s recent history, reflecting the theme of the celebrations, ‘Shine your light’. We are renowned for our work in unusual non-theatre spaces and Lumen saw us work with local choirs and community groups to bring to life the dock. A giant aerial spectacle of boats, flying bicycles, construction workers and a flying room, all suspended from cranes, were just some of the thrilling elements that wowed the audience. This, combined with incredible digital projections by our long-term collaborator Logela, helped us to tell the story of the city over recent years – a poignant celebration for the city’s residents. More than 23,500 people watched the show over 3 nights.