3-Legged Dog Presents HUANG YI & KUKA at 3LD Art and Technology Center, Now thru 2/17

3-Legged Dog has announced the World Premiere of HUANG YI & KUKA, conceived, choreographed, programmed, and performed by Huang Yi with his robot companion KUKA. HUANG YI & KUKA begins performances today, February 11 for a limited engagement through Tuesday, February 17.

The performance schedule is Wednesday - Friday at 8:00 PM; Saturday & Sunday at 3:00 PM & 8:00 PM;; Monday & Tuesday at 8:00 PM. Performances are at 3LD Art and Technology Center (80 Greenwich Street, at Rector, in downtown Manhattan). Tickets are $30. Tickets are available by calling Ovationtix at 866-811-4111 or visiting www.3ldnyc.org.

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 3LD Art & Technology Center. 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.

From a young age, dancer, choreographer and inventor Huang Yi has been interested in the partnership between humans and robots. Renowned for his velocity and precision, Huang blends dance, dynamic visuals, technology and machines into HUANG YI & KUKA, a work that reflects the process of realizing humanity through new concepts and technologies, exploring the grey area between humans and robots.

KUKA, an industrial robot made in Germany and programmed by Huang, is on stage, moving to Bach's Partita for solo violin and original music by Ryoichi Kurokawa. Performers, presented as dancing instruments, correspond with the flow of data run in the robot. Along with the tightly integrated music and sounds, Huang's choreography transforms the seemingly avant-garde idea into a thought-provoking journey. Huang's conceptualization of dance partnered with a robot pivots the viewer's perception of human expression and industrial technology.

Huang Yi and KUKA are joined on stage by Taiwanese dancers Hu Chien and Lin Jou-Wen.

HUANG YI & KUKA is part of 3-Legged Dog's Artist Residency program and their 3LD/3D+ program. The production will be filmed in 2D and 3D for submission to international film festivals and eventual worldwide distribution. The production is the first residency in a new international consortium called QA Ring initiated through the Quanta Arts Foundation (Taiwan) and including 3-Legged Dog (U.S.A.), Culture Yard (Denmark) and Ars Electronica (Austria). QA Ring is focused on creating and touring digital performance art.

The first phase of HUANG YI & KUKA was presented at the 2013 Ars Electronica in Austria and won the Taipei Digital Arts Performance Award at Digital Arts Center Taipei. Huang's three month long artist residency at 3LD allowed him to expand HUANG YI & KUKA into a full-length performance.