Ugo Dehaes - Kwaad Bloed (Belgium)

Ugo Dehaes, creator of robot-dancers, questions the relation between man and machine through movement, imagining a future without human bodies.

The audience sits with Ugo around a large table and he explains how robots are born, from slimy cocoons to shiny machines, and how we can train them with artificial intelligence until they are capable of creating and performing their own show.

The performance ends with a glimpse of the future: a ballet for homemade robot-dancers without the intervention of a human choreographer. Each robot-dancer has its own shape, none of them humanoid, and thus its own set of possible movements. The choreography is built up around their unique physical possibilities, and the data generated throughout the performance.

Ugo Dehaes also brings the installation Arena, where the audience is invited to interact with eight robots and to help them become better dancers. For that purpose, one can move the roots, choose their movements or observe how those evolve.

Arena and Simple Machines are the first and second project of the Forced Labor cycle by the Belgian choreographer Ugo Dehaes.

^{"Forced Labor: Arena is a must-see for everyone who kicks on AI, interactive art, experimental dance and ethical questions!" - Club Cultuur}

BIO

For the creation of his performances Ugo Dehaes always departs from the gaze of the spectator. Instead of wrestling with complex concepts, he asks himself what he would like to see on stage at that given moment. That way, he shares his own amazement and fascination for movement with the audience.
By focusing on the personal stories, he transforms his own initial spark into something recognisable for all. By doing so, he offers the audience a different way of looking at the world.
In the past, his sober, radical but accessible performances focused on the power of the dance and the dancers. After all, Dehaes is fascinated by the human body and the person living in said body. The last few years however, he has been going into a different direction and switched his focus to robots. He wonders how radical one can think in search of efficiency and optimisation of society.

Ugo Dehaes (1977, Leuven) started to dance at the age of 18. During a year he took ballet classes, followed contemporary dance with teachers like David Hernandez, Benoît Lachambre and Saburro Teshigawara and attended a half-time theater education at De Kleine Academie. The following year he started his full-time dance education at P.A.R.T.S., the international school for dancers and choreographers directed by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. In 1998 Ugo started to work as a dancer for Meg Stuart/Damaged Goods. During three years he collaborated on the pieces appetite and Highway 101. 
In 2000 he founded the company Kwaad Bloed together with Charlotte Vanden Eynde. Their first piece, lijfstof, premiered at Kaaitheater before starting an international tour to Vienna, Salzburg, Berlin, Paris, etc. From that moment onwards Ugo created regularly new choreographies. 
Since 2018 Ugo shifted his focus and became a Choreographer of Things. Specialized in choreographies for objects (robots, drones) and works with young creators. As a member of the Flemish Young Academy (www.jongeacademie.be) Ugo has a direct contact with numerous important young scientists and researchers in Belgium. He directed plenty of workshops and masterclasses and worked for many artists, among Stijn Grupping (Post Uit Hesdalen), Gisèle Vienne and Etienne Bideau-Rey, among others.

_CREDITS

_{Concept: Ugo Dehaes Scenography and composition: Wannes Deneer Dramaturgy: Marie Peeters Silicone in collaboration with: Rebecca Flores Table construction: Kristof Morel Photography: Arne Lievens, Ugo Dehaes, wedocumentart Production: Kwaad Bloed & Tuning People Coproduction: C-Takt Support: STORMOPKOMST Acknowledgments: AI Experience Center VUB, Caroline Pauwels, De Factorij, Gertjan Biasino, Hans De Cank, Pol Eggermont, Zaventem, Roeland Luyten, VGC}