Alexander Whitley Dance Company to Premiere Double Bill At Sadler’s Wells East
Combining contemporary dance with live motion capture and AI, the production investigates the tension between human agency and the forces that shape our fate.
This March, Alexander Whitley Dance Company will premiere its most ambitious project to date with a new double bill The Rite of Spring / Mirror performed at Sadler's Wells East from Wednesday 18 - Saturday 21 March.
Combining contemporary dance with live motion capture and AI technologies, the production investigates the tension between human agency and the forces that shape our fate. Drawing on mythology, machine logic, and raw physicality, the two new works reflect on our past and envision possible futures, from the growing influence of algorithmic systems to ritualised acts of surrender. Together, they offer a visceral journey through observation, transformation, and the enduring human need to be seen.
The double bill opens with Mirror, inspired by philosopher Shannon Vallor's book The AI Mirror and set to a score by Galya Bisengalieva, who's described as a ‘powerful force in new and primordial music'. This new work examines the risks that AI poses to human relationships when we form attachments to its reflections and mistake them for something deeper than they are. This is followed by a radical reinterpretation of Stravinsky's seminal work, The Rite of Spring, which reframes its primal themes of community and sacrifice in the context of our collective surrender of trust to AI.
The Rite of Spring / Mirror is a Sadler's Wells co-production.
Alexander Whitley is an Artistic Director and Choreographer known for creating technologically innovative and thought-provoking productions. One of Britain's most exciting young choreographers, his work explores the creative potential of digital platforms. He has choreographed for The Royal Ballet, Rambert, BalletBoyz, Candoco, Gandini Juggling, Birmingham Royal Ballet, and Hessisches Staatsballett in Germany. Whitley has previously performed at Sadler's Wells Theatre with Anti-Body (2022) in the Lilian Baylis Studio, though The Rite of Spring / Mirror marks their debut at Sadler's Wells East.
In 2014, he founded Alexander Whitley Dance Company (AWDC), an internationally acclaimed artist-led studio redefining the boundaries of dance through pioneering work with digital technology. AWDC creates multi-disciplinary performance experiences across stage, screen, and immersive or interactive platforms, which have been presented at many of the world's most prestigious theatres, festivals, and media channels.
Alexander Whitley said, “This production marks an important moment for the company, with our debut at Sadler's Wells East and our first return to a landmark of modern dance. I'm drawn to revisiting The Rite of Spring now because it was forged in a time of social rupture that echoes the paradigm shift we're experiencing in the age of AI, and because the music's raw, volatile energy embodies the instability and urgency of these moments of profound transformation. Where Mirror approaches AI through the lens of an intimate relationship, Rite expands that inquiry to the scale of community. Together, they exemplify what our work is about: using new technologies creatively to engage with the deeper societal shifts they are bringing about.”
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