Interactive Atelier Course Evolves to Virtual Environment After Pandemic Closes Campus

In the spring of 2020, choreographer Rebecca Lazier, visual artist Janet Echelman, engineer Sigrid Adriaenssens, and sound artist Jess Rowland collaborated with students in the Princeton Atelier course, The Understor(e)y: Suspension, Movement, Space. The class met weekly in the studio to explore a unique project combining dance, design, engineering, sound, and interactive sculpture until the coronavirus pandemic forced a campus-wide evacuation in March, moving all courses to remote learning. The students, faculty and staff then worked together to address the seemingly-impossible task of translating a highly interactive class to a virtual space.

Watch final class projects

After the coronavirus pandemic forced students and faculty off campus, the course evolved to address the uncertain times and find connections through assignments that inspired creativity and remote collaboration. Click on the images below to watch their final projects.