By Gemma Grant
It’s 2.40pm on a Saturday. I’m standing in one of the smaller rooms in Melbourne’s Arts Centre, while a robotic female voice speaks plainly from a speaker above. Fifteen people are sprawled across the space, lacking any uniformity.
“Are you feeling directionless? Shift in an unusually huge way … Do an east-coast swing dance by Daryl Braithwaite.”
Workshop participants dance to the AI-generated prompts.Credit: Chris Hopkins
Members of the group move fluidly, interpreting the spoken prompts. A few of them have their eyes closed. One girl dances alone in a shadowed corner.
“Your forehead is a glacier … A K-pop music wrestling match inside a tube … Can you taste the hues of your environment as a chameleon would?”
Unfolding in front of me is an artificially intelligent dance workshop. Billed as a program that explores the intersection of dance and AI, it blurs the boundaries between technology and the arts.
The program is taking place in The Channel, the Arts Centre’s creative learning hub. A few participants are professional dancers, some are studying the craft. All have a clear passion for movement and are completely immersed in the workshop.
Sometimes a voice calls on people by name and gives straightforward directions. Other times it announces bizarre phrases, which everyone interprets individually.
Alisdair Macindoe, an Australian dance technician and choreographer, leads the workshop. He created the program based on his own body of work.
“I find it to be a really positive experience from the dancer’s perspective. As a choreographer who worked for many years as a dancer, I like the idea of making work that’s interesting or fulfilling to do as a performer,” says Macindoe.
“I feel like this way of working does that, it sort of gives agency and creativity to the role.”
Choreographer Alisdair Macindoe, creator of Plagiary.Credit: Chris Hopkins
Plagiary, a professional version of the work, will premiere in Melbourne on August 28 as a part of the city’s Now or Never festival. It will then travel to the Sydney Opera House in September.
In this version of the project, professional dancers will interpret the AI-generated prompts, live on stage. It will also feature AI-generated imagery.
Attendees of the class were constantly engaged. Hayley Roe, a dancer based in Melbourne, says that it allowed her to move more freely.
“I had lots of fun during the workshop, coming out of it feeling engaged and content … I found Alisdair’s workshop particularly useful to disrupt and extend habitual patterns of movement within my body,” she says.
Alisdair Macindoe looks on as dancers take instructions.Credit: Chris Hopkins
Another attendee, Leyla Boz, studies dance full-time. She is eager to use her experiences from the class as she continues to learn.
“The workshop left me excited for the future. I am really keen to watch the show and see how the professional dancers respond to the prompts … [it] sparked a whole new realm of inspiration to work with,” she says.
The rise of artificial intelligence has raised concerns across the arts, both locally and overseas, about its unauthorised use, ability to imitate, and to what extent it will replace professional creative workers such as extras and voice artists.
A survey in June by the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance showed that more than half of Australia’s media and creative workers are “extremely concerned” about AI limiting creativity.
Macindoe is also wary of the power of AI, especially major models that are privately owned. But he says the situation is not so black and white.
“I don’t think that putting all work and all efforts to do with technology into one basket of good or bad is a good idea.
“Making the argument centred around the tool is very dangerous. Because what you want to be arguing about is the person who’s using the tool and what they’re doing with that tool”.
For Boz, she remains optimistic about how AI will interact with dance. She says that the future is bright for her industry.
“I think this is a positive start to a more accessible future for the creative arts,” Boz says.
“It can be scary when you don’t understand it, however if you take the time to learn, you will be able to use it to your advantage. It’s an incredibly flexible medium.”
And while you’re in the studio, Macindoe says it’s a special feeling to see your own work come to life: “It’s kind of nuts. It’s great. [I’m] surprised, entertained, enthused.”
“Dance thrives on participation and active spaces. So long as we continue… to come together and celebrate dance and art, then it will continue to grow and be an important part of our culture,” he says.
As the workshop wraps up, so too does the program’s robotic voice. But not before offering words of praise to those who took part.
“The session is now complete. Really good job,” it says.
Plagiary will be performed in Melbourne from August 28 to 31, and Sydney from September 12-14.