Spin on
the Waltz
By: Ambreen Hussain

Thesis
Statement
• My thesis aims to redefine the
role of the female in the
Viennese waltz in forms of
choreography and costume
through wearable and motion
sensor technologies in order to
maintain balanced gendered
roles in the Viennese waltz
where these elements are
absent.

Exploratory
Process

Domains
Interactive
Instruments
Wearables
Performance
Art

Domains Sensors
for
Sound
Costumes
Dance

Modern
• emerged from trying
Dance
to rebel from the
constraints
of ballet technique &
costume
• focus more on
self-expression rathe
than
technical proficiency

Observe
Interactive
Instruments

The
Precedent
Language
Game
Interactive
Instruments

The
Precedent
Peony
Pavilion

Prototype 1

Prototype 2

Prototype 3

Prototype 3

Problem
I was getting more
questions than I was
answers...

Timeline
1920 -30’s 1960-80’s
? ...ballet postmodern dance
modern dance
Futurist Manifesto Martha Graham Merce Cunningham

Viennese
Waltz

Waltz
as a dance
Body language:
how far a woman is
in millimeters speaks in
a way that can go
unnoticed to the eye
in dance

Role of
Female
From Revolving Embrace:
The Waltz as Sex, Steps and Sound
“Men composed hundreds of waltzes for dierent
purposes, for dierent instruments, and men
used the waltz according to the meaning they
created to define their female characters in
dramatic works.”-Yaraman 119.
“In the 19th century, women composed predominantly
in smaller forms and for a limited range of instruments.” -120.

New
Domains
Interactive
Wearables
Instruments
Performance
Art
Feminist
Theory

Specified
Audience

User
Scenario

Prototype 4

Problems
• reads acceleration, not the range
• circuit can not fulfill the design task

Prototype 6

Prototype 6

Research
Questions
• What is the eect on the audience?
• What is the eect on the dancers?
• How will it function?
• How can a wearable act as an
agent for starting a dialogue on gender
roles in a classical dance?

In
January
• Attend and observe Viennese waltz
classes and dancers
• Attend a conference on fabrics and
costume design
• Continue to prototype the eects of
sound and dancers without technology
• prototype a functioning wearable

Goal