In this residency, choreographer Lionel Popkins, will develop Reorient the Orient, a multifaceted exploration blending performance, installation, and social critique. Responding to the complex history of interculturalism, Popkin amplifies the presence of brown South Asian bodies in contemporary art and performance. The final work will create an immersive public sharing across Dance Place's theater, lobby, and studios, community members will be invited to explore freely, choosing their path and encounters.

'A&I' is a new dance and multimedia live production between five performers and a solitary AI interface (Luna) that uses smart home technology on a theatrical scale. The work questions how we see and care for the technologies we have created, which hold up the fragile ecosystems of modern society. Engaged in embodied conversations of their hopes and dreams, the performers and Luna are led into situations where they must see each other ‘face-to-face’–– together creating emotionally driven digital and sonic landscapes that reference the nostalgia of what it means to be a 21st century human.
The work evokes a ghostly ephemeral tone at times, as Luna uses the intangible elements of memory, light, and sound to hold the performers during the piece. Like the voicemail of a loved one who has passed away, the work taps into the timelessness and the impermanence of shared human experience and gives focus to the hopeful and ominous future we are creating with AI.