But when it comes to dancing in games or interactive systems, complexity almost always disappears. Dance games usually require you to move physically in front of a camera, or step on pads, or just trigger a single emote animation.
Meanwhile, in platforms like Roblox, players collect dance animations and show them off by triggering them at the right moments. Sometimes multiple players even sync their dances together - which already feels a bit like a disco.
So the question that kept bothering me was: why don't we have "dance fighters" - systems where expressive, complex dancing is mastered through equally complex control, using patterns, timing, and structure rather than physical movement?
This project is a small experiment in that direction: https://github.com/bntre/threejs-osc-dance
I'm exploring controlling character dance animations through a livecoded, pattern-based interface (Strudel), mixing short animation loops in real time. It's not a game yet, just a proof of concept - but I'm curious whether dance could be treated as a skillful, expressive control space, much like fighting inputs or musical performance.
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