Dance floor memories at V&A Dundee

Dance Floor Memories is a playful, interactive installation that encourages people to dance together to unlock nostalgic stories from dance floors of the past. Currently still a prototype, the documentation, sketches and audio recordings on display go behind-the-scenes of the game’s design process. Visitors are encouraged to contribute their own memories and experiences of night clubs to be featured in future versions of the game.

In the installation, players enter a dark space with large projections surrounding them, Players dance together on colourful floor panels containing motion sensors and their movements trigger music and visuals reminiscent of nightclubs, discos and dancehalls. As people dance, icons appear which represent dancefloor memories that have been previously contributed by players and member of the public. Once three memories are collected, the installation transforms from “dance mode” to “story mode”, where players watch silhouettes of people sharing their stories. They can then continue to dance together to collect more stories or exit the game and head to the sound booth to record their own. In this way, Dance Floor Memories becomes an ever-growing archive of people’s funny, heartfelt and joyous experiences of social dancing.