Embodiment in Virtual Reality Performance

In this publication, we present artistic and technical developments in creating and presenting dance performances in media art, where embodiment is crucial in the artistic process. We study and compare three distinct performances with dancers and one choreographer in the same dance company between 2009 and 2020. The degree of immersion in performance is then compared between the three pieces, created at Balleteatro, in Porto, addressing the transition from the real to the virtual in the performance perspective, with practical cases and direct observations in the way the audience learns different states of body representation through technological means. We initially present the NUVE performance (2010), interpreted by Né Barros, Co:Lateral (2016–2019), a performance that crosses different realities, and, finally, the transition to the UNA work (2020) that takes place in total virtuality. This publication focuses on the developments, the public experience, and the results obtained in more than 20 exhibitions in different locations, either in theater or auditorium and in conference venues.