25 & 26 September 2025

The Different Bodies Dancing with Robots team convened in September for a two-day workshop in the Cobot Maker Space, University of Nottingham to discuss and identify creative directions for future project activity. Project lead Rachael Garrett was joined by Somabotics lead Steve Benford, Senior Technical Specialist Simon Castle Green, Stacy Hsueh (soon to be joining the Somabotics team!) and project partners Kate Marsh, Welly O’Brien and Sarah Whatley from Coventry Centre for Dance Research.

During the two-day workshop, the team set about establishing creative directions for the performance. The team explored the possibilities of costuming and set design for the robots, constructing stages that allow the dancers to perform with the robots, as well extending the robotic arms to allow them to touch the dancers’ bodies. The workshop concluded with a reflection session and two creative directions having been identified: the first being the creation of a film which choreographically explores how the robots can interact with the dancers in different scenarios – entertainingly probing societal ideas of technologies and providing an alternative story about robots’ place in a messy and imperfect world. The second involves the production and potential tour of a live performance, supported by a short video showcasing the performance to show in galleries.

Further workshops to address how soft robotics and autonomous robots might be included in the project will commence in early 2026. In the meantime, project dancers from Coventry are working on the development of a storyboard and script to support the further development of both creative themes/ideas/activities.

Image credit Patrick Brundell