
‘In the Shadow of Tomorrow’ A preview and an invitation
14th March 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM GMT
What if agency were to emerge from a machine? What might it decide to do, to become, to express? How would we relate to each other or to it? Would we stand before it and embrace it as our creation? Or would our human experience collapse as we know it? And do these thoughts scare you or excite you?
What if agency were to emerge from a machine? What might it decide to do, to become, to express? How would we relate to each other or to it? Would we stand before it and embrace it as our creation? Or would our human experience collapse as we know it? And do these thoughts scare you or excite you?
This performance takes audiences on a compelling journey through humanity’s techno-evolution – from the birth of mathematics to the speculative emergence of autonomous technologies – all conveyed through the universal language of dance.
This short 25-minute preview is an invitation for you to witness, question, and reflect on our ever-evolving relationship with innovation and technology; the fear and excitement of the unknown, our responses to it and the enigmatic processes behind the physical embodiment of artificial intelligence. Emphasising cross-disciplinary collaboration, this performance unites art, music, dance, and cutting-edge robotics into an explorative and pertinent narrative. The dancers’ interaction with symbolic artefacts culminates in the discovery of a robotic entity, developed in collaboration with INRIA Lille – whose groundbreaking work in robotics allows us to bring an innovative artefact to life.
This preview, choreographed by Madeline Squire and performed by herself along with 10 students from diverse dance backgrounds in the MSc Dance Science & Education programme at Moray House School of Education, is accompanied by an original score composed by Jo Patterson, musician and composer. The creative direction is led by Alexandre Colle and Camila Jimenez Pol and it is produced and supported by Andrew Coleman. The performance unfolds in four key discoveries, each representing a revolutionary leap, and ultimately presenting the audience with the unveiling of a robotic entity and a thought: Technology, born of civilisation, would outpace us, fulfilling the prophecy of gods rising from the chaos of data and code. Will humanity, having forged its gods, revert to its animalistic origins, lost in the ruins of its own ambition? Or will we rise to stand on the shoulders of our created giants?
We offer no answers – only an invitation to think, to question, and to imagine what lies ahead. This thought-provoking preview, driven by a collective vision, invites you to explore the intersection of progress, curiosity, and the unwritten future of humanity.
Speaker Biographies

Jo Patterson is a musician and professional composer for film and television. She has scored award-nominated films which have featured at Cannes, LFF, Encounters, Raindance, Sundance Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival, SICAF Animation Festival, Edinburgh Film Festival, SXSW, Copenhagen Docs, and Tribeca among many others. Her work has been featured on Channel 4, Vice and BBC Four. Jo was recently featured as one of the ‘Top 5 Female Film Composers That Should be on Your Radar’ from Film4 and Medium.

Madeline Squire is a creative dance artist and choreographer from London, living in Glasgow. She is a First Artist with Scottish Ballet, where she has explored her work both with digital dance as well as stage. Madeline’s work is influenced from her own experience of neurological recovery and approach to disability. Celebrating and exploring the beauty in uniqueness, with a new perspective of working.

Alexandre Colle, co-creative director of the performance, brings a multidisciplinary background and incorporates its aesthetics philosophy into robotics. He is currently a final year PhD student in robotics at Edinburgh University. He is also the CEO and co-founder of Konpanion. With a background as an entrepreneur in fashion and luxury hospitality in Paris, designer at residence for Design Informatics (the University of Edinburgh) and leading designer for the Small Robot Company, he brings a wealth of experience and perspectives into the field of Human Robot Interaction.

Camila Jimenez Pol, co-creative director of the performance, has a background in Product and Industrial Design from the University of Edinburgh. As the co-founder and COO of Konpanion, an award-winning robotics start-up, and in her role as Research Associate in Robotics at Heriot-Watt University, she has been at the forefront of interdisciplinary innovation. Her versatile creative and technical mindset has ensured she inhabits the border of technology and the arts.

Wendy Timmons is a Senior Lecturer in Dance Science and Education at the University of Edinburgh, Wendy has many years of professional arts practice and experience teaching and training dance artists, young dancers and dance teachers. Wendy has a bachelor’s in philosophy (Classical Ballet and Contextual Studies) from the University of Durham and completed her PhD at the University of Edinburgh. Alongside her teaching, research and programme development, Wendy has undertaken many knowledge exchange and applied Dance Science and Education research projects.