San Francisco ballet dancers are rehearsing a new piece that reimagines the myth of Pandora. … [+]
In Greek mythology, Pandora opens the bottle and releases untold evil and misery into the world.in the new ballet mere mortalis a retelling of the millennia-old myth of Pandora’s Box with electronic music and visuals generated with the help of AI, where the artificial intelligence escapes from the container and is never stuffed back.
mere mortal San Francisco Ballet opens Friday about 80 miles from Silicon Valley, a global hub for technology, including artificial intelligence. SF itself has many well-known AI names, including his OpenAI, maker of the ChatGPT online chatbot and his DALL-E image generator, and General Motors’ Cruise, the beleaguered self-driving car maker. There is a home base for players.
“Artificial intelligence continues to grow and evolve, mere mortal It will address complex issues and emotions, as well as the exciting creative possibilities of this new technology,” San Francisco Ballet Artistic Director Tamara Rojo said in a statement.
Indeed, the premiere of the ballet, which features more than 40 dancers, revealed strong reactions ranging from excitement about its potential to fear that AI could change the face of creativity or take away jobs. It continues to evoke. In the most extreme apocalyptic scenarios, things get even worse.
mere mortal However, viewers should not expect a definitive mandate on the benefits or risks of the prevailing technology. Some of the characters in the work welcome new ideas and innovation with curiosity and fearlessness, while others have a destructive edge.
“Embracing ambiguity”
“We’re floating in this unknown place, and that’s what’s scary,” Canadian-born choreographer Azul Barton said during a rehearsal break a few days before opening night. “People like to understand, and they want concrete answers. I hope that being able to embrace ambiguity and practice living in that space is an experience that comes to this performance.”
Burton has worked with performers and companies around the world, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, American Ballet Theatre, English National Ballet, and Dutch Dance Theatre. When one of her former collaborators, San Francisco Ballet’s Rojo, approached the choreographer with the idea of remaking Pandora’s fable for the technological age, she said, “I was a little nervous to process this.” I needed time because I didn’t like the way Pandora was expressed in the past, “Pandora,” Burton said. After all, in the original parable, Pandora, the first human woman created by God, unleashes evil on humanity.
Burton, then the first woman to receive a full-length commission from the San Francisco Ballet, changed her perspective and became excited by the prospect of reinterpreting the ancient myth. In San Francisco Ballet’s revival, which runs through February 1, Pandora represents a highly skilled new human race that embodies progress and learning. Burton cast both male and female dancers for the role.
Composer Sam Shepard, aka Floating Points, consults with choreographer Azul Burton.
From precise and urgent movements to gentle and absorbing movements, dancers transform themselves into both complex machines and deeply emotional humans. “It’s very physical and quite sensual,” Burton said of the piece.
British DJ and music producer Sam Shepard, also known as Floating Points, has composed his first ballet music. It will combine live orchestral music with electronic instruments, and he will be performing on a synthesizer with the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. Barcelona-based mixed media artists Pablo Balquin and Anna Díaz have created immersive visuals containing light and video images inspired by the birth of the atomic bomb and mythological parallels. They have presented their work at art festivals such as Coachella and Ars Electronica.
“There’s a lot of stimulation, so the whole experience is fun for the senses,” Burton said. “We created something unexpected.”
