Virtual Dance Floors

When attending these environments, the psyvatars (Simão and Guerra 2016) point out limitations to the virtual dance floors, namely: the lack of human warmth, the direct interaction between pairs, the lack of movement and dance ritual, the resignation of the body (not in the sense of alienation or psychedelic experience, but in terms of physical perception) and the lack of multisensory experience. On the other hand, others argue that the objective of the party is reached as long they have the fundamental-the music.\nThe subjects who are more connected virtually are often more connected physically or in person (Wellman et al. 2006) and in these SL communities (even smaller than other EM and EDM communities), the feeling of belonging and empathy between the virtual members is quite evident. Beyond these similarities there are other parallels between the conventional and the virtual dance floor: musical aesthetics, empathy between members, the figure of the DJ and the centrality of the dance floor, decor and visual expressions, clothing, accessories and recreational consumptions, among others. It is also important to mention the constant concern in recreating the main elements of the physical parties. More than a simulacrum, these events are thus framing their own place and identity.\nThis imposed digital migration has clearly intensified the virtual dynamics, as well as boosting the hybridism of these digital incubators, but even though these virtual dance floors and online music events in general have proliferated in the first months of 2020, it is more prudent to consider them viable alternatives than effective replacements. Today we are living in the territories of the future surrendered to the permeability and fluidity of the cyber-era (Wilson and Atkinson 2005), listening and dancing to electronic and algorithmic music, but are we prepared to give up the real-physical-offline-sweaty dance floors? In the coexistence of isolation and crowds, the dance floor warriors must resist becoming purely egovatars of cyberspace and keep festivals and rave culture alive (Simão and Guerra 2016)

Art · Dance · Visual arts · Computer Science · Diversity and Impact of Dance · Human Motion and Animation

• Music Scenes

  Andy Bennett, Richard A Peterson•Music Scenes•2004

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• Rave and Straightedge, the Virtual and the Real

  Open Access•Brian Wilson, Michael Atkinson•Youth & Society•2005

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