Paper short abstract:

The publication the W3 web annotation standards appear to coincide with an increase in movement and computing research projects utilising annotation. This paper will explore connections with the recording, annotating and disseminating of meaningful digitised documentation of contemporary dance.

Paper long abstract:

The publication in February 2017 of the W3 standards for an interoperable, sharable, distributed Web Annotation architecture appear to have coincided with an increase in the number of movement and computing research projects utilising experts to annotate data recordings based on a more or less agreed taxonomy of terms and definitions. This paper will briefly explore connections between these developments and recent efforts on the part of contemporary dance practitioners to record, annotate (in some cases) and disseminate meaningful digitised documents of process. In particular, the author theorises an 'unbridgeable' gap between manual forms of annotation and automated computational analysis, referring to some examples in the movement and computing field and drawing attention to how manual (human) observation is informed by the constraints of the system and yet exceed these. The author is also involved in the development of best practice approaches to digital video annotation. He will share some of this work drawing on current research projects involving the use of annotation as a means of explicating the tacit and embodied knowledge forms associated with the practices of contemporary dance.