Computer Science Seminar Series

Abstract

Leon Watts, Jean Abreu and Michele Panegrossi are collaborating on an innovative science-arts exchange project on human-robot interaction in dance to explore embodied emotional expression and identity. The project has revolved around Jean’s new piece ‘Solo for Two’, commissioned by the Southbank Centre and supported by the Arts Council of England. Solo for Two centres on cultural duality in the experience of being a migrant. Leon, Jean and Michele will share some of the choreographic, conceptual and interaction issues encountered with two performance robots, Josephine and Mach-eba, as they may shape understandings of human identity. In particular, they will discuss challenges of duality and separation in identity - the core narrative of Solo for Two - as it has been constructed through alternation of dancer-dancer and dancer-robot moments in the piece. They will discuss how one another’s distinctive perspectives have evolved, supported by the University of Bath Public Engagement Unit, and the design challenges posed by the presence of an embodied representation of agency in contemporary dance.

Websites:
http://www.cs.bath.ac.uk/leon/
http://www.jeanabreudance.com/

Host: Jekaterina Novikova

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