Prompt Dancer steps into the realms of artificial intelligence and human creativity, culminating in a live dance choreographed entirely by AI. This performance aims to explore the interaction between AI and dance, delving beyond hyped public discourses around AI and art to understand if a machine can capture the intricacies of the choreographer/dancer creative process, typically characterized by a reciprocal exchange of energies between humans. Can AI, devoid of human emotions and experiential nuances, truly encapsulate the depth and complexity of a dancer’s performance? And can it provide meaningful guidance for a dancer to learn and perform a unique choreography? In this experiment, AI takes on the role of the choreographer, providing instructions, while the dancer becomes an interpreter and executor of these instructions, unable to question or interact with AI to refine the final output. During the performance, the audience will be immersed as robotic voice echoes on stage, reproducing an AI-generated choreography and guiding the dancer step-by-step into learning and performing the dance without prior rehearsal. This raw process will uncover and dissect the experimental process of machines acting as dance choreographers and the potential for a dancer’s creativity to flourish within the constraints of algorithmic guidelines. Through this exploration, Prompt Dancer seeks to understand the implications of using AI tools in performing arts and in dance in particular. Humans prompt machines, machines prompt humans, and humans create what? What does this all reveal about the uses of AI tools within performing arts? How does this process go beyond medialized discourses, both utopian and dystopian, about AI taking over creative processes and the need for artists to rescue the humanity in creativity?
António Baía Reis’s bio
António Baía Reis is an interdisciplinary university professor, researcher, and artist with an unwavering passion for extended reality (XR) and interactive media, along with their boundless potential to connect with broader society. He holds a BA in International Relations, a Professional Acting Diploma, an MA in Communication Sciences, and a practice-based PhD in Digital Media. The latter was completed in collaboration with the University of Porto and Stanford University, focusing on XR, creative processes, and social change. With a diverse artistic background spanning professional acting, music, and multimedia art for over ten years, he has been developing a creative and research portfolio at the intersection of digital media, VR, performance, experimental music and film, and art installations. Having prior experience in digital media and the arts and cultural industry, including executive-level positions such as his role as Academic Executive Director at the Los Angeles-based company Umaya, where he was involved in multidisciplinary teams collaborating with brands such as Loewe, Nvidia, AMC, Orange, Vodafone, Telefonica, and MasterChef, Reis regularly shares his knowledge in XR, digital media, communication, arts, and their interconnected fields across various sectors. Currently, he is an Invited Assistant Professor at both Universidad Complutense de Madrid and NOVA University of Lisbon, where he shares his expertise in digital and emerging media at the postgraduate level. He also leads research on emerging media and communication as an integrated PhD researcher of the Innovation on Digital Media research lab at Universidad Carlos III in Madrid. As the Course Director for the “Live Performance in the Metaverse” course at the Multiverse Institute for Arts & Technology (MIAT) in Milan, he mentors students in designing and executing live performances using VR and other innovative technologies. Additionally, he is the founder, stage director, and VR actor of La Cuarta Pared VR, a pioneering virtual reality theatre collective based in Madrid that explores live acting and performance in virtual realms. Recent awards and special achievements include receiving a MSCA Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2021 for his groundbreaking project aimed at enhancing science communication through immersive media arts. As a published author in leading scientific journals and the Director and Editor-in-Chief of the academic journal Cinema & Territory, as well as a member of the editorial board of the Q1 journal Media Practice and Education, Reis continues to contribute to scholarly discourse.
Petr Vašků’s bio
Petr Vašků is a dedicated scholar and filmmaker, specializing in television and radio scriptwriting and dramaturgy. Having pursued his academic journey at JAMU, he is currently engaged in the PhD programme, developing his expertise in this dynamic field. Through the lens of auteur documentary film making, Vašků meticulously examines the confluence of experimental and fine arts techniques, with a keen emphasis on seamlessly integrating material and corporeal elements to evoke an unparalleled sense of presence and authenticity.
Sára Solmošiová’s bio
Sára Solmošiová is currently in the fourth year of her studies at Faculty of Architecture, Brno University of Technology. Step by step, she is discovering the complexity that architecture can offer spicing up the exploration process by experiments. She spent some time in practice and a year abroad. She prefers writing by hand on pieces of paper and doing hand craft rather than using technology tools. Recently, she has fallen for the theatre world. Her ideal day is without connection to social media. She loves to be in company of her dog.