INSTITUTO STOCOS DANCE AND TECHNOLOGIES series: Embodied Machine

Choreography is a form of artistic expression particularly noteworthy for its combination of strict physical and mental training and enormous creativity. Despite this, dance is, at the same time, the most fleeting of all art forms, and this extraordinary creativity radiated from the body dissipates and fades away without leaving any significant trace. This work focuses on how this energy that arises from embodied experience can be captured and form the foundation for artistic creation in other disciplines. Using this logic, Embodied Machine springs from experimentation based on translating the human body into abstractions that can provide the foundation for transforming into other aesthetic manifestations. Is it possible to synthesise light and sound on the basis of our movements and interact with the resulting presences as if they were dance partners? Is it possible to examine, in depth, our understanding of embodied creativity using forms of artificial intelligence? These are just some of the questions to which Embodied Machine aims to provide a response. A piece in which Muriel Romero interrelates with avatars of herself that appear in the form of light and sound, presences that behave independently and with which it is possible to interact in a multi-sensorial dialogue.

Artificial intelligence, biology, mathematics and experimental psychology can all dance. Expanding the body’s energy to embrace other forms of sensorial experience, in an ongoing dialogue with science, provides the field of research for choreographer and dancer Muriel Romero and composer Pablo Palacio. Romero, who began her career with choreographers such as William Forsythe and Jiří Kylián, partnered with Pablo Palacio to found Instituto Stocos, where they analyse and develop interaction between body movement, sound and visual imagery and leverage technology to evolve dance and music. The collective imaginary of Instituto Stocos has given rise to a series of performance pieces that provide their research with artistic dissemination. Pieces like Acusmatrix, Catexis, Stocos, Double Bind, Neural Narratives, Piano & Dancer, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Ocuemene and The Hidden Resonances of Moving Bodies speak this new language invented by them. What’s more, the body of theory developed by Muriel Romero and Pablo Palacio is the subject of study in conservatories and universities around the world.

This show is included in the expanded ISEA2022 schedule.

Choreography Muriel Romero / Music Pablo Palacio / Dancer Muriel Romero / Visual interactive simulation Daniel Bisig / Lighting and lasers Pablo Palacio, Daniel Bisig y Maxi Gilbert / Scenic Space  Maxi Gilbert and Instituto Stocos / Interactive light programming Instituto Stocos /Interactive sonification Pablo Palacio / Software and interactive technology Daniel Bisig, Pablo Palacio /Mocap Master Pedro Ribot / Technical Director  Hugo Can /Costume design Raquel Buj – Buj Studio
Producer Instituto Stocos / Co-produced by Mercat de les Flors / Research and development support Cie Gilles Jobin (Geneva) / Motion capture Studios 44 MocapLab / With the support of Mercat de les Flors (Barcelona), Unión Europea (E2.Create-Horizon 2020), Etopia Centro de Arte y Tecnología (Zaragoza), L’Animal a l’Esquena (Girona), MAEC- Academia de Espagna a Roma, Azkuna Zentroa (Bilbao), Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology of Zurich (Zurich), Motion Bank Mainz (Germany), Coventry Center for Contemporary Dance Research (UK)

Conversation after the show: June 11 with Muriel Romero (Cofounder Instituto Stocos), Pablo Palacio (Cofounder Instituto Stocos), Daniel Bisig (Visual interactive simulation) and Raquel Buj (Costume design)