As an artistic form, choreography is notable for combining rigorous physical and mental training with the highest standards of creativity. Dance is, however, also the most ephemeral of all the arts, and this extraordinary creativity emanating from the body tends to vanish without any significant trace. This piece focusses on how the creativity that radiates from the experience of the body can be captured and form the basis for artistic creation in other disciplines.

Embodied Machine is based on an experiment with translating the human body into abstractions that can serve as foundations to be transformed into other aesthetic manifestations. Is it possible to synthesize light and sound based on our movement and interact with these presences as if they were fellow dancers? Is it possible to look deeper into our knowledge of creativity associated with the body (embodied creativity) through forms of artificial intelligence? These are some of the questions that Embodied Machine attempts to answer. Muriel Romero relates on stage in this piece with avatars of herself manifested in the form of light and sound, presences that behave autonomously and with which it is possible to interact in a multi-sensory dialogue.

Embodied Machine is the final result of a two year project supported by the European Commission as part of its Horizon 2020 programme, a Marie Curie Fellowship backed by an international multi-disciplinary consortium of artists and scientists. The project envisages allowing the creativity inherent in the arts of movement to be studied and disseminated systematically through computer assisted design, using the most advanced digital technology, with the aim of deepening the understanding and effective communication of the principles of choreography associataed with dance creation and transferring them to other disciplines such as music or the visual arts.

Choreography: Muriel Romero
Musical composition: Pablo Palacio.
Dancer: Muriel Romero
Interactive visual simulation: Daniel Bisig
Lighting: Maxi Gilbert
Interactive sound: Pablo Palacio.
Interactive programming and technology: Daniel Bisig, Pablo Palacio.
Dresser: Raquel Buj /Buj Studio
Styling and wardrobe: Rosa Murillo.
Production: Institut Stocos

Coproduction: Mercat de les Flors
Backing for research and development: Cie Gilles Jobin Geneve.
Movement capture: Studios 44 MocapLab
Backers: Mercat de les Flors, Azkuna Zentroa, Ethopia Centre for Art & Technology, European Union (H2020), MAEC- Academia de España in Rome, Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology of Zurich (Switzerland), Motion Bank Mainz, Coventry Centre for Contemporary Dance Research