A FUTURISTIC new performance, seeking to blend ‘genetic code, AI and choreography’, is preparing to take to the stage at a York theatre.

Company Wayne McGregor / Autobiography (v102 and v103) is coming to York Theatre Royal on October 25 and 26.

This is off the back of McGregor receiving a knighthood in June “in recognition of his trailblazing innovations in performance that have radically redefined the world of contemporary dance” using innovative techniques.

RECOMMENDED READING:

In 2017, he staged his first Autobiography performance – a show determined by the sequencing of his own genetic code and saw him layering choreography over his personal story using an algorithm.

Taking his genes as a starting point, he worked with software architect Nick Rothwell to design an algorithm that would choose a random order for his work to be presented – resulting in a performance that was different for each showing.

Autobiography (v102 and v103) is the latest work using this ‘fusion of human and artificial intelligence’ where AISOMA – a new AI tool developed with Google Arts and Culture utilising machine – will go through hundreds of hours of McGregor’s past choreography to create a fresh routine based on his old performances.

Wayne McGregor's Autobiography, Company Wayne McGregor, Théâtre de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France (2023)Wayne McGregor's Autobiography, Company Wayne McGregor, Théâtre de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France (2023) (Image: Ravi Deepres) Wayne said: “We are each the sum of our experiences, and these experiences, which land, sit, move and evolve, are understood by and through the body.

“This somatic system - our individual 'living archive' - holds this information in our muscles, our emotional felt centre and our very cells, ready to be called upon as reference for new experiences, or perhaps buried deeply within us waiting to be released. This bodily archive is sophisticated and multi-modal, not easily explained or understood exclusively by the rational or the logical.”

Wayne McGregor's Autobiography, Company Wayne McGregor (Jacob O'Connell), Sadler's Wells, London (2017)Wayne McGregor's Autobiography, Company Wayne McGregor (Jacob O'Connell), Sadler's Wells, London (2017) (Image: Ollie Adegboye) “Dance doesn’t do ‘concrete’ meaning very well; it’s too ambiguous an art form for that. What it does brilliantly is offer multiple meanings and interpretations of ideas – a form of physical impressionism. We are experts, in daily life, in reading other bodies and inferring meaning before any words are spoken."