Page 126 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report 2014

AC/E digital culture ANNUAL REPORT 2014Introduct ion:the impact of the new technologies in the performing artsThis study attempts to provide a panoramic view of the application of the new technologies to the performing arts. It does not, therefore, attempt to rankorevaluateeachoftheseapplicationsbut rather to provide an exhaustive analysis of the most significant tendencies, and the cases in which they are best demonstrated. The research is structured into three sections:1. The use of the new technologies in performing arts works.2. Theinfluenceofthenewtechnologiesonthe way people view the performing arts.3. The new technologies before and after a performance.Analysis of the impact of the new technologies in the performing artsThe history of the performing arts has, from the very beginning, been tied to the relationship with the spectator, the effect that the work—through its author and those interpreting it—aims to have on the audience present in the auditorium. The fact that those in the audience breathe the same air as the actors means that theatre, opera, ballet are a kind of collective communion, a shared experience. In ancient Greece and Rome, the theatre busied itself with the affairs of the polis, it was a mirror of everyday avatars, the exemplary and mythical character of which drew parallels with the lives of those watching. So the protagonists were kings, princes, gods or demi-gods. The works of that period aimed for catharsis, to move consciences, to change the morality and conduct of the theatre goers.AC/EThis relationship began to change as works started to be performed in less accessible, more closed places, such as the salons of aristocratic palaces, something that commencing during the Middle Ages. Nobles and the court would fête their guests with plays and little operas. In fact, what is considered to be the first opera in history was performed in a salon in the palace of the Gonzagas, in Mantua. However, such works were destined to become eminently urban and they were increasingly performed in theatres.In large cities, theatres were built and those who previously would have met in exclusive palatial salons began to devote their attention to them as places where the feelings inspired by those first gatherings were widely amplified. The performing arts were the entertainment of a social class, one of the preferred pastimes of the court. The musiciansFOCUS 2014: THE USE OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PERFORMING ARTSANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF THE NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PERFORMING ARTS CURRENT PAGE...126