Carnival of the Animals

An interactive experience co-created with children

Carnival of the Animals

The Royal Danish Opera
Copenhagen, Denamark
March, 2014

Narrated by Thomas Mørk
Backgrounds by students at The Danish School of Design
Kinect animation by Halfdan Hauch Jensen

The Royal Danish Opera - Copenhagen &
MEDEA - Malmö University

 

Kinect generated animals animated in real time.

School kids were invited to a workshop at the Royal before the show. By using a kinect and some special software they could ‘act’ as different animals. They could be a lion, fish, swan, rooster – etc. All ‘animal performances’ were recorded and output to an animation file. This was then projected along with the story behind the symphony orchestra. Various backgrounds were constructed by students at the danish design school and animated it in a live performance to the music half an hour later. The kids could all see their ‘own’ animal in the show.  

CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS

(Le carnaval des animaux ) is a humorous musical suite of 14 movements by French Romantic composer Camille Saint-Saëns.

From the beginning, Saint-Saëns regarded the work as a piece of fun.  He forbade the piece to be published before his death, since he feared it would detract from his image as serious composer. Still, the piece wound up as his most famous.