ODC Theater Will Present Kinetech Arts in the World Premiere of AI SENSORIUM

ODC Theater will present Kinetech Arts in the world premiere of AI SENSORIUM, a multidisciplinary investigation of the powers and pitfalls of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Performances run February 21 - 23, Friday to Sunday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 - $30, and may be purchased online at odc.dance/tickets or by phone at 415-863-9834.

Kinetech Arts, directed by ODC Theater Resident Artists Daiane Lopes da Silva and Weidong Yang, works at the intersection of dance, science and technology to create innovative and socially responsible performances. Their newest project considers the advance of machine learning and AI. Unfolding in three parts, AI Sensorium features an ensemble of five dancers with choreography by Lopes da Silva, alongside Yang in the role of interactive visual designer and poet Vidhu Aggarwal. Among the topics they address are the impact of AI on privacy and identity, the filter bubble and our sense of the digital supernatural.

"Unlike physical footprints which disappear over time, the erasure of digital footprints is futile," said Lopes da Silva. "One can no longer control what is left behind. Invasion of privacy operates as a sharp needle penetrating one's skin. Human image synthesis through deepfake AI transports one's face onto another's body. The giant machine of influence creates bubbles contorting beliefs."

The company has commissioned new music from composer Timothy Russel. Patricia Alessandrini, who teaches in the Department of Music at Stanford, serves as sound designer and "interaction consultant," translating electrical impulses captured from dancers' bodies into soundscapes in real time. In addition to Lopes da Silva, the dancers include Samuel Melecio-Zambrano, Gizeh Muniz, Chelsea Reichert and Julia Rubies Subiros.

Additional collaborators include installation designer Michael Koehle, responsible for metal panels responsive to the dancers' movements; lighting designer Harry Rubeck; and the late visual artist Raymond Larrett. AI Sensorium was commissioned by ODC Theater and has received generous support from the Djerassi Resident Artists Program and Creative Work Fund.

"We are grateful to be hosting Kinetech Arts at ODC Theater, and for their ongoing presence as resident artists," said ODC Theater Director Julie Potter. "The weekly art and technology lab they convene has been a source of research leading to this culminating resident artist commission supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation."

For more information, visit odc.dance/AISensorium.

LEAD ARTIST BIOS

Daiane Lopes da Silva is a dancer, choreographer, educator and co-artistic director of Kinetech Arts. Her work has been performed in Brazil, France, Belgium, Greece, Germany, Italy and the U.S. She was a resident artist at CounterPulse and Headlands Center for the Arts, and is currently in residency at Djerassi Resident Artists Program and ODC Theater. As a dancer, she has performed with KUNST-STOFF, Labayen Dance, Lisbon Dance Company, little seismic dance company and Robert Moses' Kin. She has also performed in works of Sara Shelton Mann. She studied at The Municipal Ballet of São Paulo, Brazil, and at P.A.R.T.S., directed by Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker in Brussels. She is a faculty member of Alonzo King LINES Ballet Dance Center and Western Ballet. Lopes da Silva received a B.A. in Psychology from San Francisco State University.

Weidong Yang co-founded and co-directs Kinetech Arts with Lopes da Silva. He also founded Kineviz, creating visual analytics solutions for complex data. He received a Masters degree in Computer Science and a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Oregon. Yang was later a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, conducting research on quantum dots. He has collaborated in the creation of many performances and installations. As a dancer, he has performed with artists and dance companies including KUNST-STOFF, Paco Gomes and Sara Shelton Mann. He was a Scientific Delirium Madness Resident Artist at the Djerassi Resident Artists Program in 2017.

ABOUT ODC THEATER

ODC Theater participates in the creation of new works through commissioning, presenting, mentorship and space access; it develops informed, engaged and committed audiences; and it advocates for the performing arts as an essential component to the region's economic and cultural development. The Theater is the site of over 120 performances a year involving nearly 1,000 local, regional, national and International Artists.

Since 1976, ODC Theater has been the mobilizing force behind countless San Francisco artists and the foothold for national and international touring artists seeking debut in the Bay Area. The Theater, founded by Brenda Way and currently under the direction of Julie Potter, has earned its place as a cultural incubator by dedicating itself to creative change-makers, those leaders who give the Bay Area its unmistakable definition and flare. Nationally known artists Spaulding Gray, Diamanda Galas, Bill T. Jones, Eiko & Koma, Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, Karole Armitage, Sarah Michelson, Brian Brooks and John Heginbotham are among those whose first San Francisco appearance occurred at ODC Theater. For more information about ODC Theater and all its programs visit www.odc.dance.

WHAT:

ODC Theater presents Kinetech Arts in the world premiere of AI Sensorium.

Choreographer: Daiane Lopes da Silva

Dancers: Daiane Lopes da Silva, Samuel Melecio-Zambrano, Gizeh Muniz, Chelsea Reichert, Julia Rubies Subiros

Installation Designer: Michael Koehle

Lighting Designer: Harry Rubeck

Composer: Timothy Russel

Sound Designer & Interaction Consultant: Patricia Alessandrini

Visual Artist: Raymond Larrett

Poet: Vidhu Aggarwal

Researcher & Interactive Visual Designer: Weidong Yang

WHEN:

February 21 - 23, 2020

Friday - Sunday at 8 p.m.

WHERE:

ODC Theater

3153 17th Street

San Francisco, CA 94110

TICKETS:

$15 - $30

A limited number of half-priced Art Access tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis to those for whom price is a barrier. To purchase tickets call 415-863-9834. Or online visit odc.dance/AISensorium or odc.dance/tickets.

Photo Credit: Weidong Yang