Dancing to the sounds of volcanoes: a fusion of art and science

In March of this year, patrons of the Washington DC-based CityDance company were treated to a unique event: a dance performance set to sounds from volcanoes. The dance, titled The Mountain, was part of CityDance Ensemble’s Carbon, a workin-progress about climate change. The Mountain’s choreographer, Jason Garcio Ignacio, based the dance on the structure of melodies created out of seismic waves recorded from volcanoes around the world specifically Mount Etna in Italy, Mount Tungurahua in Ecuador, and the Mountains Pinatubo and Mayon in the Philippines. Seismic data from these mountains was transformed into audible sound waves using a volcano sonification technique developed by DANTE engineer Domenico Vicinanza, also the music’s composer. The technique is being used in research to translate the patterns in a volcano’s behaviour into sound waves to help predict volcanic eruptions. “As a scientist, it was my priority to develop tools to help us predict eruptions and ultimately reduce the loss of lives,” said Vicinanza. “As a musician and artist too, it was a natural step for me to take these seismic sonification sounds and apply them to the arts. I am delighted that the results, or songs of the earth, are being turned into a dance performance that will help raise awareness of climate change.” 

e-Infrastructures for research and arts
The technology behind Vicinanza’s seismic sonification was facilitated by DANTE, a provider of high-speed research and education networks, and two distributed computing projects, Enabling Grids for E-sciencE (EGEE) and E-science grid facility for Europe and Latin America (EELA). DANTE’s research and education data communications networks—GÉANT2 in Europe and TEIN3 in Asia-Pacific—as well as Latin America’s RedCLARA (operated by CLARA), underpin the immense computing power provided by EGEE in Europe and EELA in Latin America. The complex sonification algorithms used by Vicinanza harness the power of computing grids, enabling the seismic data to be converted into melodies, a process that would be impossible using standard bandwidth networks or computing resources. “High bandwidth research and education internet networks together with grid computing power have played a vital part in making this project a reality,” said Paul Gordon Emerson, CityDance Ensemble choreographer and Carbon curator. “This proves that if we can create a musical score from the earth’s natural sounds with the help of a global computer infrastructure, then we can find the innovation needed to improve the planet. The fact that this work uses the voices of the earth from three continents is a very powerful metaphor for Carbon as a project and as a concept.” Originally presented in sold-out performances on the 14th and 15th of March at the Music Centre, Maryland, USA, and restaged the following weekend, The Mountain is now available to view at http://www.dante.net/volcanodance.