In this talk, Adrienne Hart, Artistic Director of Neon Dance, will discuss the new contemporary dance work ‘Prehension Blooms’ with her collaborator Dr Hemma Philamore from the University of Bristol’s Robotics Lab. The work combines dance with robotics to explore loneliness, companionship, and belonging. The creative duo will share early-stage prototype designs and Professor Takashi Ikegami (University of Tokyo) will comment on the project as well as offer an insight into his own cutting-edge research centered on complex systems and artificial life. Each of the speakers will end this webinar by sharing their thoughts on how emerging technologies might influence dance in the future.

Date: Thursday 22 April 2021

UK Time: 12:00pm-13:30pm (BST)
Japan Time: 8:00pm-9:30pm (GMT+9)

About the contributors

Adrienne Hart works internationally as a choreographer and as Artistic Director of Neon Dance. Adrienne has worked in Russia, Belgium, Norway, Germany, Kosovo, Japan, USA, and extensively in the UK. Her work has been commissioned and supported by Arts Council England, British Council, Creative England, Sadler’s Wells, The Place, Modern Art Oxford, Glastonbury Festival, Reversible Destiny Foundation, the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, South West Creative Technology Network, and Art Front Gallery amongst others. Commissions include working with Sadler’s Wells resident over60’s performance group Company of Elders, invited to premiere ‘Puzzle Creature’ as part of Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial (Japan).

Hemma Philamore is a Lecturer in Robotics at the University of Bristol and Bristol Robotics Laboratory. She specializes in soft, energy-autonomous and bio-hybrid robots. Her work includes microbial and protein-based systems for electrical power generation and robotic actuator synthesis, robots and sensors for monitoring aquatic environments, wearable technology, and work with artists and performers on interactive artworks combining sound, touch, and play.

Takashi Ikegami is a Professor at the Department of General Systems Sciences at the University of Tokyo. His works encompass both the arts and sciences and deal with complex systems and artificial life. He received his doctorate in physics from the University of Tokyo in 1989. His research is centered on complex systems and artificial life, a field which aims to build a possible form of life using computer simulations, chemical experiments, and robots. Some of these results have been published in Life Emerges in Motion (Seido Book Publishers, 2007) and In Between Man and Machine (Kodansha, 2016). He has been involved in media arts since 2005: projects include ‘Filmachine’ (with Keiichiro Shibuya, YCAM, 2006), ‘Mind Time Machine’ (YCAM, 2010), ‘Long Good bye’ (with Kenshu Shintsubo, Japan Alps Festa, 2017), and ‘Offloaded Agency’ (Barbican, 2019).

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