[Photo credit: CALTECH]
The dance-theater production, specially created for Caltech by company founder Laura Karlin, examines the life of Alan Turing, considered the father of artificial intelligence and computing, whose code-breaking work turned the tide of World War II.
“A wonderful, beautiful, and often heart-wrenching work of art,” wrote LA Dance Chronicle about the production, which interweaves Turing’s contributions as a computer scientist, mathematician, and cryptanalyst with his favorite film.
“We are in a time that both state-sponsored violence against queer individuals and communities remains a huge threat, and in a moment in which we are collectively grappling with our relationship with artificial intelligence,” Karlin said.
The production, developed from Invertigo’s classic 2019 work “Formulae & Fairy Tales,” connects to Turing’s tragic end in 1954, when he died after eating a cyanide-laced apple following government persecution.
“Karlin’s work gets into the heart, soul, and sensuous bones of her subject,” wrote Diversions LA, praising how the dancers’ movements often play on computational systems, on the known and unknown.
The performances, scheduled for Dec. 6 and 7 at Caltech’s Beckman Auditorium, are part of Getty’s broader PST ART initiative featuring over 70 regional exhibitions.
Michael Alexander, Director of Public Programming at Caltech, noted that the show’s themes “possibly have more urgency’ than they had when it was new since its 2019 premiere.
Each evening includes the dance performance, interactive storytelling, and a panel discussion featuring Katy Felkner and Christopher Persaud exploring fairy tales, queerness, and AI biases.
Founded in 2007, Invertigo Dance Theatre has created over 40 original works and runs Dancing Through Parkinson’s, a program making dance accessible to those with neurodegenerative disorders.
Tickets are $10 for students and $44 for general admission, with performances at 8 p.m. To purchase tickets, go to https://ci.ovationtix.com/
For more information, visit Caltech events, or call (626) 395-4652.
