Humanhood – Dance Meets Science

WORKSHOP LEADER – Prof William Chaplin, School of Physics and Astronomy

Humanhood is a forward-thinking dance company run by co-artistic directors Rudi Cole and Julia Robert. They create bold choreographic pieces, working with musical and lighting directors, and taking inspiration for their work from a variety of disciplines. Rudi and Julia have recently taken a particular interest in integrating concepts from physics and astronomy into their practice, and are now collaborating with Professor Chaplin and his research group to develop a new work called “Torus”, which will be performed by Humanhood’s newly formed dance company.

Professor Chaplin recently took part with Rudi and Julia in a “post show” talk at the Birmingham Hippodrome following their performance of the piece “Zero”. There was a discussion with the audience on how artists and scientists can influence each other’s practice, which goes to the heart of the key theme both parties wish to explore in their collaboration – and the focus for this proposed Workshop.

We will explore with the Workshop participants the creative opportunities and challenges that arise in collaborations between those in the artistic and scientific domains, how “science can inform art” and the arguably more tricky direction of how “art informs science”. Humanhood will share some choreographic sequences they have been developing during the early stages of the collaborative process, performed by the five company dancers, giving an opportunity to witness this close collaboration, and to see how it translates to movement with a group of dancers. The performance will be combined with talks and explanations from both Professor Chaplin, and Co-Artistic Directors Rudi and Julia, and discussion with the Workshop attendees. The event will provide insights into how we have communicated and collaborated in a way that has informed both our thinking and process, and will involve significant attendee participation with active discussion and engagement throughout on the key topics of how science influences art and vice versa.