A Sun Dance ‘harmonises’ with sunlight, architecture, and the existing sound of the building of presentation. A Sun Dance was developed so that physical, spatial and temporal dimensions may adapt to changes in sunlight, architecture, and existing sound of the building of presentation. With future presentations in mind from the outset, I have considered adaptability in the work’s development and how to describe the instincts and principles to support decisions for the translation of the work in time and space to new scenarios (performers, buildings, hemispheres, seasons). I have titled this section ‘Installation’ to use the language of the museum and indicate the multifaceted and highly skilled process of ‘installing’ a work of art in a gallery context. Given A Sun Dance is a live performance and not an object, this is a productively imperfect term. This part of the manual might equally have been titled ‘Harmonising with site’ to gesture to the live interrelation between light, building and dancer, and to indicate how the work tunes to, or resonates with, existing forms, sound, daylighting and other elements of the architecture. I use the term ‘site harmonising’ rather than ‘site specific’ as the sound and choreography come from established artistic, relational, choreographic and musical practices that are brought into harmony with the qualities of the site, but are not anchored to, or dependent on stable or concrete elements of a particular site. Practically, as a live performance, ‘installation’ also means on site rehearsal and provision of essential conditions for performers including preparation space / green room at the museum / gallery. (See Resources)

In the future, others may be involved in ‘installing,’ or ‘harmonising,’ A Sun Dance to new architectures. This part of the manual offers some guiding principles and practical approaches for ‘installing’ the work to other scenarios and might be useful to curators / producers tasked with presenting the work, but also to choreographer / dancers and composer / musicians who I suggest are engaged as ‘specialist installers’ in my absence or the absence of the original choreographers / composer. New performers may also choose to engage with these materials for a better understanding of the meta structures and adaptability of the work.

The performance begins and ends with a ‘Rise’ and ‘Set’ to mark the entry and exit into the building. The work passes through the architecture like light through glass. The architecture is a conduit for the performance, not a container. The performance flows continuously across a day, and the audience can dip in and out at any time. The performance is structured temporally into morning, midday, afternoon cycles, offering three clear ways ‘in’ for the audience. Geometric shapes and forms of costume and choreography relate to shapes and forms of museum building. The architectural form and features may influence the spatial and temporal arrangement and sequencing of the performance material. Relationship between dancer, sunlight, architecture is core. Music and choreography ‘harmonise’ with the sunlight, architecture, and existing sound of the building of presentation. The interplay between architecture and natural light is a choreographic element of the work. The dynamic relation of the sun to the earth’s rotation, tilt and orbit is also a choreographic element of the work. Things that are constant · Mediums are dance/choreography, sound, sunlight, costume · Performed by a cast of 4–5 dancers, 1 musician (can reduce to 4 dancers if performer illness or to scale down to smaller site) · Performance enters and exits the building to begin and end · Performance moves or ‘roams’ through various locations in the museum across a day · Performance is structured temporally into morning, midday, afternoon cycles · Cycles are mapped to the sun path, beginning in strong areas of sunlight with group performance before dispersing into various galleries of the museum Things that are flexible · The quality and amount of sunlight depending on the weather and season. While strong clear sunlight is desirable, it is not a prerequisite for the performance to be presented. Unpredictability and change of the weather are part of the work, sunlight is still present even when it is not a ‘sunny’ day. · Start and end times of performance may vary depending on opening hours of museum and length of day · Beginning time, location and duration of cycles are adaptable depending on seasonal sun path and location of windows / skylight · Cast size can reduce from 5 to 4 dancers minimum, to scale down to smaller site or if there is unexpected illness · Cast members may change over time (at least one ‘Seed Dancer’ recommended within each cast) · Staging, sequencing and duration of choreographic material may adapt depending on architectural features and seasonal sunlight · Arrangement and instrumentation of musical score, and physical location of musician, may adapt depending on architecture features and existing sounds of the building (see 4 – Music) · Instruments can change within the family of ‘notes’ and ‘tones’ of the score (see 4 – Music) · Emotional register of the performance can change throughout the day from attentive to playful · Costumes can be altered/fitted for different bodies, repaired or remade over time if overworn (see 6 – Costume)

[Still completing this section]

[Still completing this section]

Run Sheet from NGA Floorplan for Circuit Game NGA Light studies of NGA and TSI