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AISOMA: Wayne McGregor x Edinburgh Futures Institute
17th October 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM BST
Image Credit: Studio Wayne McGregor
Studio Wayne McGregor will deliver a creative residency culminating in a performance. The creative residency will centre on McGregor’s AI.Soma – a world’s first, machine learning choreographic tool developed specifically for McGregor with Google Arts and Culture Lab. During the residency, 12 students from a range of dance backgrounds studying on MSc Dance Science & Education programme at Moray House School of Education and Sport, will be introduced to the AI tool, learn excerpts of McGregor’s AI repertory and use AI.Soma to develop their own choreographic material, which Studio Wayne McGregor artists will then develop into a 20 minute public sharing performed by the dance artists. This Residency offers an opportunity for the Participants to gain exclusive insight into McGregor’s artistic process, and the creative process of his closest collaborators, Company Wayne McGregor. Studio Wayne McGregor has developed a consummate reputation for transformative approaches to how dance is taught, learned, and spoken about. To date, over 100,000 people of all ages and experiences have participated in our workshops and residencies across the UK and internationally, from school children to adults, and professional dancers to those who have never danced before.
Originally from New Zealand, Rebecca Bassett-Graham trained as a contemporary major at the New Zealand School of Dance. After graduating in 2011, she joined New Zealand Dance Company as an inaugural intern before moving to Townsville, Australia to work with DanceNorth. Rebecca freelanced between New Zealand and Australia working with various choreographers including Ross McCormack and Sarah Foster-Sproull. She moved to London in 2013 and continued to work as a freelance dancer across the UK and Europe. Rebecca joined Company Wayne McGregor in 2017.
Chris Lyons is a composer, pianist and multi-instrumentalist. He is active in classical, folk and jazz music. He recently soundtracked his first full-length feature film and he is much in demand as an arranger and orchestrator. He has founded some of Scotland’s most unusual bands: 8 piece Celtic-Balkan festival favourites Blue Giant Orkestar and the 9 piece contemporary vocal folk ensemble Samodiva Nestya. He also plays violin in the ensemble Hegedu. In the field of music technology, he has been quite active in the live coding scene. Chris is known for playing an unusually large number of instruments and he is held in high regard as a music educator. He is a founder of ‘Leith New Music’, the world’s most informal art-music event.
Heather Rikic is the programme director of the University’s MSc Dance Science and Education programme and a teaching fellow on postgraduate and undergraduate courses at Moray House School of Education and Sport. Before moving to Edinburgh, Heather performed for various independent contemporary choreographers in New York City, USA and Belgrade, Serbia; taught learners of various ages and abilities including as a teaching artist for Alonzo King LINES Dance Center (San Francisco, USA), New York City Ballet’s education department, KC Magacin (Belgrade, Serbia), Dance Base (Edinburgh) and currently teaches Cunningham Technique® at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (Glasgow).
