Do Robots have emotions?

Dancer, choreographer, and dance/choreography history teacher Medie Megas was on the Europe Beyond Access program team, working as a program design consultant for the commissioning and support of emerging choreographers with disabilities, and mentoring Manolis Saridakis during the creation of this work.

She notes: “Within the framework of Europe Beyond Access, an artistic mentoring program of a practical and theoretical nature was launched, running ahead of and in parallel with rehearsals for the production of three works. The talks, discussions, and practical exercises that took place followed four key lines of inquiry. The first concerned contemporary dance today: artistic practices, methodological tools, the generation of meaning, and the relationship between artist and audience. The second focused on the field of dramaturgy and contemporary collective practices, a topic further elaborated by means of a two-day seminar led by the dramaturg Rodia Vomvolou. The third introduced disability and accessibility perspectives in order to bring issues of identity to the fore, and to examine new and more specialized concepts such as the aesthetics of accessibility. Lastly, and in parallel with all the other lines of inquiry, particular importance was placed on developing the ideas of each choreographer, and on the ways in which these ideas could be translated into instructions for improvisation, exploratory games, and creative tasks for the dancers.

The performance you’re going to see has to do with robots. I chose this topic because I feel like a robot sometimes too. I conducted an interview and did research to learn about robots: about how they move and how they help people. I had a few questions: Do robots have a mechanical heart? Is a robot brain the same as a human brain? Are robots ever bored when they do chores? Are robots doing whatever they want or whatever humans want? I hope seeing my performance makes you happy.

–Manolis Saridakis