Robert Wechsler

Robert Wechsler is a dancer and choreographer living in Germany. He is artistic director of Palindrome Intermedia Performance Group and is an experimenter with interactive ways of performing using new technology. His interest in sensors and electronic devices dates back to the 1970s when he used hand-held electronic devices to generate sounds through his movement on stage. This was in Ames, Iowa, in the United States where he studied molecular genetics. A move to New York City and a ten-year dance training (S.U.N.Y. Purchase, Merce Cunningham, Maggie Black, et al.) did little to lessen his interest in science and in 1982 he formed Palindrome with a group of scientists and artists at New York University. In 2004, Wechsler designed and directed England's first masters degree program in digital performance at Doncaster College. He is the author of articles concerned with dance and new media for Leonardo Magazine, IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, Ballet International, Dance Magazine, "Dance Research Journal", Nouvelle de Danse, Der Tanz der Dinge and others and presents work regularly at scientific conferences concerned with the technology, culture and art. His first book, "Motion Tracking -- a practical guide for performing artists" is scheduled for publication in 2008.