MEDIA CONTACT
JOANNA SZU
858.822.3199
jszu@ucsd.edu
Dancing Robot: HUANG YI & KUKA
San Diego Debut of Acclaimed Taiwanese
Choreographer and Dancer Huang Yi
La Jolla, C.A.—ArtPower at UC San Diego presents the San Diego debut of innovative choreographer and dancer Huang Yi. Along with his robot KUKA, Huang harmoniously weave together the art of dance and the science of mechanical engineering. Using razor-sharp precision and stunning artistry, the award–winning HUANG YI & KUKU is a poetic work that flawlessly intertwines modern dance and visual arts within the realm of robotics. This ground-breaking performance takes place at UC San Diego’s Mandeville Auditorium on Wednesday, October 14 at 8 pm. Tickets are $28–46 and are available online at boxoffice.ucsd.edu or by calling 858.534.TIXS (8497).
Named by Dance magazine as one of its “25 to Watch,” Huang has earned international accolades across Europe, Asia, and North America. In a week-long residency at ArtPower, he will give master classes to UC San Diego students and students in the transcenDance program; conduct workshop and discussion at UC San Diego’s Flow Control & Robotics Laboratory; and present an open rehearsal for San Diego K–12 students.
About Huang Yi
Taiwanese dancer, choreographer, inventor, and videographer Huang Yi’s pioneering work is steeped in his fascination with the partnership between humans and robots. He interweaves continuous movement with mechanical and multimedia elements to create a form of dance which corresponds with the flow of data, effectively making the performer a dancing instrument. Named by Dance magazine as one of the “25 to Watch,” Huang was immersed in the arts at a young age, spending much of his childhood in his parents’ studio watching them teach tango and learning to paint alongside his father. He is widely considered one of Asia’s most prolific choreographers. Huang’s groundbreaking and award-winning work, HUANG YI & KUKA, in which he performs alongside a robot he conceptualized and programmed, opened the 2013 Ars Electronica Festival (Austria), the internationally renowned unique platform for digital art and media culture. Works choreographed by and featuring Huang have received high praise at venues internationally, including Joyce Theater; Enghien-Les-Bains Centre des Arts (France); Tasdance and Dancenorth (Australia); Cloud Gate 2 (Taipei); the Indonesian Dance Festival (Jakarta); New York Live Arts; and the American Dance Festival (North Carolina). Huang’s collaboration with Cloud Gate 2 continues to tour internationally, to much acclaim. He has received awards for his work at the Digital Arts Center Taipei (2010 and 2012); and the 3rd Cross Connection Ballet International Choreography Competition in Copenhagen (2010), among many others across Europe and Asia.
About ArtPower
ArtPower at UC San Diego builds creative experiences in music, dance, film, exhibition, and food for our collective pleasure and inspiration. We engage diverse audiences through vibrant, challenging, multi-disciplinary performances by emerging and renowned international artists. Through extensive partnerships, ArtPower provides exciting opportunities for research, participation, and creation of new work, igniting powerful dialogue between artists, students, scholars, and the community.
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