Symposium Schedule

Led by Amy LaViers

How do we make a robot crawl like a centipede, buzz like a bee, wiggle like an octopus or walk like a human? This workshop will pose a possible direction toward such ends. First, we will move together. This will activate an innate ability to imitate each other and, in doing so, illuminate the principal components of Laban/Bartenieff Movement Studies—a field comprised of Laban Movement Analysis and Bartenieff Fundamentals—and the Body, Effort, Shape, Space and Time (BESST) System of movement analysis. Next, we will try to write down what we’re doing. A set of symbols for describing elements of the BESST System, which seem to be perceptually meaningful to human observers, will be presented so that movement can be notated and, thus, translated between bodies. We will explore both Labanotation and “motif”-style notation for movement on both natural and artificial bodies to understand platform dependence and invariance. Finally, we will envision future bodies, which might crawl, buzz, wiggle or walk. Simple mock-ups of artificial bodies will be created in hopes that they may enact the ideas from our movement scores. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t matter if they ever do—the point of the exercise is to learn about ourselves.

This workshop is partially supported by NSF award #2234196.

Led by Kate Ladenheim, Mollye Bendell & Snehesh Shrestha

Join us for a presentation on the collaborative performance and research project COMMIT!. This gallery exhibit transforms data collected during COMMIT! performances, in which a performer falls repeatedly, throwing themself on the ground trying to execute the most “committed” fall that they possibly can. During the show, “commitment” is measured by gathering qualitative data (real-time responses on perceived commitment from the audience) and quantitative data which is collected via sensors that track the shape of the performer’s body, its estimated speed and force and pattern of impact. Project collaborators will discuss their process of creating the performance and the resulting artifacts built from collected data, and reveal a new generative animation tool.

Browse the COMMIT! exhibit, which includes a series of embodied artifacts collected from live performances.

Join us for conversation and light refreshments prior to the Keynote Address.

Featuring Amy LaViers

Can a human imitate an octopus? Can a bee mimic a centipede? Can a quadruped mirror a biped? When do two bodies in motion do the same thing? Moving robots out of factories requires that we consider the ability of a body’s movement to communicate, express or otherwise encode meaning. This new context poignantly demonstrates how the arts are an essential body of knowledge for robotic research: Musicians make instruments like a cello and flute perform similar actions, bolstered by shared notation. Likewise, dancers take disparate bodies, people with differing bone structures and musculatures, and create coordinated group action in a novel motion style that serves a single expressive goal. The talk will grapple with the impossibility of dancing in unison and posit this phenomenon as a fundamental act that forms the basis of embodied communication. The talk also highlights possibilities and challenges posed by movement notation for robotics, drawing parallels to the development of modern music notation, by presenting work by artist-engineer teams in the RAD Lab: robots that imitate human movement; a teleoperation scheme driven by movement notation; a metric for measuring the expressiveness of a moving body; new systems for notating movement and a twenty-foot-wide breath-activated public robotic art installation inspired by bird wings that gives participants immediate creative experience with robots.

Led by André Zachery

In this workshop, participants will devise individualized "Process Maps" through collective feedback about their creative ideas. Nothing will be off the table. Mapping ideas is a method of organizing ideas into actionable tasks that can be achieved through various forms including—the body, sound, visuals, text and scent. These maps are a reflection of the creators' values on the specific project and offer a pathway of setting goals and being a score simultaneously. Participants will construct their maps on paper and should retain them for future use.

Moderated by Dean Stephanie Shonekan

This panel brings together symposium presenters with moderator Dr. Stephanie Shonekan, Dean of UMD's College of Arts and Humanities, for a lively discussion on the future of embodied practices with media and machines.

Browse the COMMIT! exhibit, which includes a series of embodied artifacts collected from live performances.

As an artist and scholar, Grisha Coleman works in areas of movement, digital media and performance that engage creative forms in choreography, music composition and human-centered computer interaction. In this talk, she will discuss her research exploring relationships among physiological, technological and ecological systems and human movement, our machines and the places we inhabit.

Featuring Jonathan David Martin, Adriane Fang, Huaishu Peng & Bill Kules

DANCExDANCE is a dance installation about human-robot interaction and our collective feelings about technology’s influence on the future. Audiences will use their smartphones to interact with the performance, influencing the choreography of the human and robotic dancers. Through their choices, we will explore the question of whether emerging technology is bringing us closer together or pulling us farther apart.

Led by Katherine Helen Fisher

In an era where the digital and physical realms are increasingly intertwined, our workshop, "Dancing the Hyperreal: Real-Time Choreographic Interfaces," introduces a groundbreaking exploration at the intersection of technology, movement, and digital imagery. We have developed a unique series of real-time choreographic interfaces that leverage sensors to capture motion data from the human body. This data is then transformed into generative visual imagery, often employing photographic forms that delve into the concept of hyperreality. Our work comments on our embodied existence within a contemporary landscape saturated with mediated images and omnipresent screens.

These interfaces are designed to foster an environment of open interaction, encouraging participants to engage playfully and meaningfully with the technology. This engagement not only allows individuals to connect more deeply with their physical presence but also to experience their own images in an amplified, larger-than-life context. The aim is to bridge the gap between the tangible and the virtual, offering a reflective lens on how we navigate our increasingly digitized lives.

Moving beyond the traditional confines of data representation, this workshop reimagines how we perceive and interact with information. Instead of viewing individuals as mere data points, we embrace the complexity of human experience through the lens of movement and interactive technology. By embodying data in this innovative manner, we unlock new pathways for communication and understanding, making abstract concepts intimately accessible and engaging.

Participants will be immersed in a hands-on experience, exploring how these interfaces can transform their movements into dynamic visual narratives. This process not only demystifies the technology behind the interfaces but also invites a deeper contemplation of our place within a hyperreal world.

Led by Jonathan David Martin and Kate Ladenheim with Srijal Shekhar Poojari

A choreorobotics demonstration and discussion centered around “Spot,” a state-of-the-art, Boston Dynamics robot. We will explore some of the choreographic features that the makers have included with the robot to familiarize users with its movement. How does its movement make us feel and what can it tell us about a future where interactions with robotics will become commonplace?

Featuring André Zachery

SALT is an excerpt from a current work-in-development collaboration between interdisciplinary choreographer André M. Zachery and interdisciplinary sound/media artist Sadah Espii Proctor entitled “Against Gravity: Flying Afrikans and Other Urban Legends.'' This section is named and inspired by a novel of the same name by Trinidadian writer Earl Lovelace, the tale of “Igbo Landing” and the legend of “the people who could fly.” The relationship between “the water” and “flight” is symbiotic and at times reciprocal in African Diaspora cultural landscapes. This excerpt contends with how we are moving the speculative, unseen and yet to be heard towards the center of our trajectory while collectively engaging in futuring practices.