John Toenjes

Biography

John Toenjes is Professor, Music Director, and Co-Director of Undergraduate Education at the University of Illinois Department of Dance, and past President of the International Guild of Musicians in Dance. He has written over 30 scores for choreographers, including Lucas Hoving and Joe Goode. Since 2004, he has focused on producing computer-assisted interactive dances such as Inventions Suite (2008 Cleveland Ingenuity Festival), telematic dances such as Timings: An Internet Dance with dancers in Tokyo connected to live avatars, and smartphone-enhanced works such as Kama Begata Nihilum, featuring dancers carrying networked iPads and an audience AR app. In 2014 he established the Laboratory for Audience Interactive Technologies which has designed an app system for live performance called “Mosho.” Dances that integrate Mosho include Critical Mass (2017), and Alternate Reality (2018). He now researches game structures for dance, creating works such as SoundWave Surfing (2020), a dance that pits teams of dancers against each other in an improvisation battle, and a new VR dance adventure game called “Master Dancer.” Visit his website for more information.