Prince William County Publication

Highlighting The Historical Movement Archive

The Historical Movement Archive (HMA) is dedicated to preserving and promoting the art of movement through technology. Recently, an article was published about HMA in which its founder, Brad Alan Waller, was interviewed. The article, titled, “Preserving the Art of Movement Through Technology,” explores our mission here at the HMA and how we’re using technology to advance our cause.

Our founder, Brad Alan Waller, a movement specialist himself, founded HMA to address the challenges of preserving and accessing both cultural and historical movement. As Waller explained in the article, ‘There are so many historical dance works that have been lost because there was no system for capturing and preserving them.” We here at the HMA seek to address this issue by creating a digital archive of movement that can be accessed and shared by dancers, choreographers, scholars, and enthusiasts worldwide.

In the article, Waller emphasized the importance of using technology to preserve the art of movement. “We want to make sure that these works can be experienced by future generations,” he said. “Technology allows us to capture and share movement in a way that was never possible before.” Our work is particularly timely given the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. As many dance and movement performances have been canceled or postponed due to public health concerns, HMA’s digital archive and digital destination provides a valuable resource for researchers of historical dance and martial arts, as well as choreographers to continue their work and connect with audiences online.

Overall the article highlights the innovative work that the HMA is doing to preserve and promote the art of movement. By leveraging technology to create a digital archive of movement performances, HMA is ensuring that the history of dance and movement can be researched, accessed and enjoyed by all.