Unleashing artistic possible with Technological Innovation
"Do we need extraordinary abilities to stay relevant?" Choreographer Hsieh Chieh-hua asks in the dance piece "CyborgEros," a collaboration between the Anarchy Dance Theatre and IF Plus. The show explores how digital avatars mix with real life. On stage, screens show AI-generated dances while live performers interact with both screens and AI, improvising as they go. This mix creates scenes that are both strange and make sense, reflecting how reality and virtual blur today. "CyborgEros" captures this modern confusion well.
A Dialogue between AI and Contemporary Dance
During the collaborative process with the choreographer, our team utilized real-time AI computation, pixel analysis, programming, and motion capture to create a brand-new AI contemporary dancer for "CyborgEros." After nearly a year of training and analyzing tens of thousands of images, the AI not only successfully learned to recognize human body movements but also translated AI responses into dance gestures. So, electronic screens on stage enabled the AI dancer to interact with live performers. Throughout the performance, sensors above the stage and cameras held by dancers continuously transmitted their movements to the AI database. The AI then computed digital dance poses in real-time, creating a dialogue between technology and the physical body for "beyond language" communication.
In addition to the interaction between AI and dancers, "CyborgEros" incorporated interactive design with three seating options and three perspectives for the audience: "online," "offline," or "online + offline." This allowed viewers to switch seamlessly between digital and real while staying connected to the live performance. Through the fusion of technology and artistic creation, our collaboration with the choreographer resulted in an unprecedented interactive dance performance, shaping a unique artistic expression for this era.
Audience Feedback
＃This show really made me appreciate the beauty of the “physical body.”
＃I had no idea it was AI dancing! I thought those were real dancers!
＃Seeing the human body and AI blend on stage was truly remarkable!
Media
Embodiment and the Desire for Transgression: CyborgEros
Advisory Organization｜Ministry of Culture
Creation and Research Support｜National Taichung Theater
Pre-production Support｜Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture, Chinlin Foundation for Culture and Arts, Department of Cultural Affair of Taipei City Government
Venue Support｜Art Space 71 / Taipei City Government-Art Space Action
Director & Choreographer｜Hsieh Chieh-hua
Performer｜Chou Kuan-jou, Tu Li-wei, Shih Ming-wen
Dramaturg｜Fan Xiang-jun
Technology Director & Visual Design｜IF Plus, Sensing, Marugo.Cloud
Program Development & Technical Execution｜Wang Po-yu, Chang Hsiao-wu, Hsu Fang-chih
Visual Design｜Niel Lee
Motion Graphic Design｜Argo Hsieh
Project Management｜Lie Te-wei
Key Visual & Video Design｜9 Grid Design- HUANG Atz
Stage Design｜Lin Kai-yu
Lighting Design｜Chen Da-zai
Music Design｜Cheng Nai-chuan
Costume Design｜Kuo Hsuan
Hair & Makeup｜Chung Chi-fu
Stage Manager｜Teng Hsiang-ting
Technical Director｜Lo Yan-yi Steph
Master Electrician ｜Chen Yi-hsin
Associate Producer｜Tai Hsiao-fan
Rehearsal Assistant ｜Chao Ting-ting
Marketing Specialist｜Stella Tsai
Typographic Posters｜Orange Liu
Cinematographer & Film Editor｜Chen Wei-sheng, Joe Lee
Photographer｜Chang Chia-hao, Chen Wei-sheng, Liu Chih-chen