El Eco del Carlito

The dancing mannequin El Eco del Carlito – an optic installation of dance that challenges the senses.
Premiere: Friday the 29th of April 2011 at 15.00 o’clock at Flakhaven in Odense in connection with the Day of Dance and Research Day.


What is movement and what is an optic illusion? These questions are brought up when Ingrid Kristensen premieres her dance installation; the dancing mannequin – El Eco del Carlito in Odense Friday the 29th of April in connection with the Day of Dance and Research Day.
Light, sound and shapes melt together in an optic illusion of dance
After many years work with research of use of senses in dance experiences Ingrid Kristensens level of ambition has reached a new level with the dance installation the dancing mannequin El Eco del Carlito. In this installation the audience can experience the result of when a mannequin is lit by a projector, which works as a moving layer on the still mannequin. The lighting is based on the five universal frames of mind; the playfulness, the fear, the sensuality, the longing and the cosmic. The installation has been developed with the technic help from CAVI (Centre for Advanced Visual Interaction) from the University of Aarhus.
Morten Constantin Lervig from CAVI explains;
“The artistic ambition has been to make the installation living and give it a layer of experiences, which can bring the viewer through a journey of five frames of mind. This of course brings a number of challenges. On the language front it’s been a challenge to understand each other. When Ingrid says that an experience has to be light and sensitive, what does that mean for milliseconds, RGB values and the dynamic changes of the graphic material?”
The installations most importation co-worker – the sound – is composed by the musician Fuzzy. He’s famous for his work within everything from jazz to experimenting electronic music. He’s also composed film music for Jørgen Leth and Bille August among others. Ingrid Kristensen and Fuzzy have been working together since 2011 and the dancing mannequin; El Eco del Carlito is their 8th collaboration. The artistic components will create a surprising universe together, which will demand something of the audience when the installation will be showed in Odense on Friday the 29th of April. After this the installation will be showed in the house of senses ‘The Gold horn’ (Guldhornet) in Skanderborg – a home for people with both physical and psychic handicaps. From the 13th of October 2011 to the 9th of January 2012 the dancing mannequin El Eco del Carlito will be showed at Fyns Museum of Art.
Moments of magic
The Argentinian born Ingrid Kristensen has a number of different experiences behind her as a choreographer, ballet-dancer, teacher in creative development and promoter for Denmarks only print for modern dance. With the dancing mannequin El Eco del Carlito she’s going back to where it all started – Argentina.
“As a child I lived in the metropolis Buenos Aires, Argentina. Every now and then we went on weekend strolls at the city’s big walking street, where different salesmen showed the most wondrous things. Baila Carlito Baila was one of them – a little man made from rubber, who magically jumped and danced in the air all by himself. And it mesmerized me – the great jumps and pirouettes the little man did untireable and yes, he was controlled by the great street seller, who virtuously got Carlito to dance through the see-through fishing line. But for me this experience was a moment of magic and the echo of this experience is something that I’m trying to create again with the dancing mannequin; moments of magic through dance”, Ingrid Kristensen says.
The dancing mannequin, El Eco del Carlito, was created as a part of Ingrid Kristensens three-year project Sense & Dance. The project is founded by the States Council of Art in Denmark and is being done to establish a platform for innovative stage art. 
Best regards,
Ingrid