HUANG YI & KUKA
Choreographer/Dancer: Huang Yi
Dancers: Hu Chien, Lin Jou-Wen
8PM, February 11th to 17th, 2015
3PM, February 14th to 15th, 2015
at 3LD Art & Technology Center (80 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10006)
ABOUT:
As a child, Huang Yi longed for a robot companion. As an adult, he created a robot to dance with. Acclaimed Taiwanese choreographer and dancer Huang Yi and his robot companion KUKA bring razor sharp precision and stunning artistry to 3LD Art & Technology Center. Harmoniously weaving together the art of dance and the science of mechanical engineering, HUANG YI & KUKA is a poetic work that flawlessly intertwines modern dance and visual arts with the realm of robotics.
HUANG YI:
Huang’s pioneering work is steeped in his fascination with the partnership between humans and robots. He interweaves continuous movement with mechanical and multimedia elements to create a form of dance which corresponds with the flow of data, effectively make the performer a dancing instrument. Named by Dance Magazine as one of the “25 to Watch,” Huang was immersed in the arts at a young age, spending much of his childhood in his parents’ studio watching them teach tango and learning to paint alongside his father. He is widely considered one of Asia’s most prolific choreographers.
Huang’s works have received high praise at venues internationally, including the Ars Electronica Festival (Austria), Joyce Theater, Engien-Les-Bain Centre des Arts (France), Nimbus Dance Works (Jersey City), Cloud Gate 2 (Taipei), the Indonesian Dance Festival (Jakarta), New York Live Arts, and the American Dance Festival (North Carolina). Huang’s collaboration with Cloud Gate 2 toured internationally in 2012, to much acclaim. He has received awards for his work at Digital Arts Center Taipei and the 3rd Cross Connection Ballet International Choreography Competition in Copenhagen, among many others across Europe and Asia.
HISTORY:
HUANG YI & KUKA is part of 3-Legged Dog’s Artist Residency program and their 3LD/3D+ program. The production will be filmed in 2D and 3D for submission to international film festivals and eventual worldwide distribution. The production is the first residency in a new international consortium called QA Ring initiated through the Quanta Arts Foundation (Taiwan) and including 3LD (U.S.A.), Culture Yard (Denmark) and Ars Electronica (Austria). QA Ring is focused on creating and touring digital performance art.
The first phase of HUANG YI & KUKA was presented at the 2013 Ars Electronica in Austria and won the Taipei Digital Arts Performance Award at Digital Arts Center Taipei. Huang’s three month long artist residency at 3LD allowed him to expand HUANG YI & KUKA into a full-length performance.