HUANG YI & KUKA

Friday, November 15, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, November 16, 2024 at 3 p.m.
in Stewart Theatre
presented by NC State LIVE

HUANG YI & KUKA

HUANG YI & KUKA is an original production of Huang Yi Studio +, developed at 3LD Art & Technology Center, in association with Sozo Artists. Commissioned by Quanta Arts Foundation. 

On Friday, the performance will run approximately 60 minutes with no intermission.

On Saturday, the performance will run approximately 45 minutes with no intermission.

CREDITS

Dancers:
Hu Chien
Huang Yi
Hsieh Cheng-Yu
Chen Zhao-Li
Chen Yi-Chen
KUKA

Creative and Production Team:
Huang Yi – Concept & Choreography
Huang Yi & Hu Chien – Movement
Hu Chien – Costume
Huang Yi – Lighting Design
Lin Chia-Liang – Technical Director
Hsieh Cheng-Yu & Chen Zhao-Li – Technical Assistants
Wu Min-Fang – Tour Manager
Ichun Yeh, Sozo – Tour Producer
Sozo – Worldwide Representation
Tina Teng, Formosa Language Services – Interpretation Services

ADVISORY

Theatrical haze and strobe lights will be used in this performance. 

DESCRIPTION

“Dancing face to face with a robot is like looking at my own face in a mirror… I think I have found the key to spin human emotions into robots.” — Huang Yi

As a child, Huang Yi longed for a robot companion. As an adult, he created a robot to dance with.

Acclaimed Taiwanese choreographer and dancer Huang Yi and his robot companion KUKA bring razor sharp precision and stunning artistry to NC State LIVE. Harmoniously weaving together the art of dance and the science of mechanical engineering, HUANG YI & KUKA is a poetic work that flawlessly intertwines modern dance and visual arts with the realm of robotics.

HUANG YI & KUKA reveals humanity through a series of vignettes between live dancers and KUKA, a robot conceptualized and programmed by Huang Yi.

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. Huang has been Artist-in-Residence of the National Theater & Concert Hall, the National Performing Arts Center, Taiwan, and is widely considered one of Asia’s most prolific choreographers. 

Huang’s groundbreaking and award-winning work, HUANG YI & KUKA, in which he and his dancers perform alongside an industrial robot he programmed, has opened the Ars Electronica Festival (Austria), TED Conference (Vancouver), and toured globally since 2015 including in Australia, the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the UAE. 

Huang Yi premiered Under the Horizon, a hybrid opera, in collaboration with Berlin-based Ryoichi Kurokawa and the Netherlands Chamber Choir, in Holland and Taiwan in 2018. In February 2019 he premiered A Million Miles Away at Taiwan’s celebrated National Theater. His latest work, Ink, premiered at the National Taichung Theater and the National Theater in Taipei in June 2023.

ARTIST STATEMENT

I was born in a wealthy family. When I was 10, my parents went bankrupt due to investment losses. My family of four moved from a luxurious house to a 40-square foot room. As a child who was constantly moving from one tiny room to another and seeing my parents go through suicide attempts, I grew up knowing that I had to be a perfect child. I detached all my emotion- passion, anger, and sadness, to be that perfect child, and to be like a robot: obedient, friendly, outstanding, considerate, never rebellious, perhaps no personality.

As a child, my favorite cartoon was Doraemon, a Japanese animation character and a cat robot who is always there to solve problems for his owner. Apparently, I have something with robots since I was little. Is it because they represent a character that is loyal? Or is it because their destiny of being selfless? Thankfully, my parents let me choose to be a professional on stage, which became the best outlet for my compressed emotion. And I wanted to find a way to dance with a robot.

I did my research on the most advanced industrial robots, and KUKA stood out for stability, and the fluid design like the shape of human. In 2010, I called the KUKA company in Taiwan. When I told them my idea, they said, “According to the regulation, when the robot is moving, human beings cannot enter the area of its action. If you can find a way, I will lend you a KUKA.”

I have found a way, and now, thanks to Quanta Arts Foundation in Taiwan, I have a KUKA.

For me, “HUANG YI & KUKA” is a process of beautifying the sorrow and sadness when I grew up. It is the expression of loneliness, self-doubt, self-realization and self-comfort. I was trying to make a beautiful illusion just to assure others that everything was fine. I wanted to remind us of our simplest hope from the very beginning, that we are all just grown up kids, but still kids. 

– Huang Yi 

SPECIAL THANKS

KUKA Robot Automation Taiwan Co. Ltd., KUKA Robotics Corp. (USA), Quanta Arts Foundation, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, LMF Dance Fund, National Theater (Taiwan), Asia Cultural Council, 3-Legged Dog, Mr. Wen-Hung Kao, Ms. Kuang-Hui An, iMakr (NYC), HITACHI, ATOM 3D Printer (Taiwan), Multinational Company Long Dedicated to Community Investment, CANJUNE, Taiwan Top Performing Arts Group Project, National Culture and Arts Foundation (Taiwan), Hong Foundation, National Center for High-Performance Computing (Taiwan), Industrial Technology Research Institute (Taiwan)

The performance is made possible by the generous support of the Ministry of Culture (Taiwan).

HUANG YI RESIDENCY at NC State LIVE

Huang Yi was in residence with NC State LIVE for a week of events from November 11-16, 2024. Named by Dance Magazine as one of the “25 to Watch,” Huang Yi blurs the boundaries of dance and robotics and has captivated audiences across the globe and on the TED stage. His residency included artist talks, class visits, a panel conversation on humanity and technology, a robot party for local families and two performances of HUANG YI & KUKA. Explore the full artist residency schedule here.

IT TAKES A VILLAGE

We would like to thank our campus and community partners who helped make this residency possible: University Honors Program, Department of Performing Arts and Technology, Data Science and AI Academy, Pack Robotics, Gregg Museum of Art and Design, and NC Arts in Action.

NC State LIVE is generously supported in part by grants from the City of Raleigh based on recommendations of the Raleigh Arts Commission, South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, and with project support for our residency with Huang Yi from the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural & Cultural Resources.

50+ YEARS OF IMPACT

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