“The performance was moving, it inspired us”, cheered the audience at Belarusian Irena Mihalkovich’s dance performance at the Utopian Dystopia festival in Kochi. Irena, who’s stage name is Mohini, choreographed into Indian classical dance the trauma that a woman might experience in her lifetime. But with a major twist, the protagonist was a machine instead of a human.
The core of the story focuses around an AI prototype of a woman. Every time the machine goes through a breakdown, it starts responding psychotically and falls into a runtime error. The whole performance was developed in the form of software analysis.
Irena also incorporated a video called ‘Balance’ in her performance, which denoted finding the higher self. The performance was completed with the sound effects and voice of an AI along with a backdrop that replicated the machine’s brain, representing its surroundings and what it sees and goes through. Upon reaching the climax, the character finally finds healing and enters a stage of self-hypnosis.
AI is included in the choreography through visuals and sound. The performance begins with a pre-recorded automated voice. Gradually as the mode changes, techno music takes over. On stage, a screen is projected in the backdrop. Images of software glitches and system rebooting are cast on the screen. The emotional stability of the protagonist is represented through these on-screen glitches. AI sound effects infused at every run time error enhance the impact of the overall performance.
Finding the story
“Some things just come to you, and you start to experience like a channel that connects art with its audience”, says Irena. It was during one of routine discussions that a friend mentioned a robot dancing Mohiniyattam, a traditional dance form in Kerala. However, Irena detoured slightly from the thread and formulated something quite different.
“So far, machines are capable of many skills, yet we still haven’t heard about AI actually getting human emotions”, says Irene. She is confident that the days when machines will begin to feel like human beings are not that far away.
Irena traces her roots to Belarus, a country in the Russia-Ukraine border, the epicenter of an ongoing war. The war in Europe tore her personally, and she recreated to through her performance using music and sounds of explosions. The damage war brings to her character’s life is yet another cause for the system reboot. Child abuse, fighting to find a place in the world, breaking barriers, facing toxic masculinity, and losing loved ones during the war are all incorporated into the choreography. In short, it is an amalgamation of every atrocity that Irena has witnessed, read about, and experienced.
Apart from being a performer, Irena is a dance teacher, yoga trainer, and model. She is also developing an independent film on the Devadasi system that prevailed in India.
Re-rooting to India
In 2014, when Irena moved to India as an ICCR scholar, she had one vision- to learn Indian classical dance. Though she had built basics of Indian Classical Dance from her hometown in Belarus, she was terrified of moving to another country.
“Today, you can find any information online. But it was not the same back then”, says Irena. Now she laughs about how Indian climate, culture, and horror stories she heard about snakes and coconuts falling on top of your head scared her. “Fear has big eyes. Sometimes things are scary. But not to the extent that our brain makes it”, she added.
Irena was a professional in International Relations back in the day, but she always knew that her space was elsewhere. “My stepping into International Relations was a choice made under family pressure”, says Irena. However, watching her perform on stage, it is evident- she was born to be a dancer.
Future with AI
AI is transforming every sector that it touches. While many live in the fear that AI will replace them in their workspace, Irena has a different point of view.
“If AI can do our jobs, will not everything become much easier? We may use the time to spend quality hours with our friends and family”, she asks.
She believes that one should work only to a certain limit. “I don’t know why working tirelessly is an element of pride. That is not healthy living. Every person needs a break”, she added. In this regard, she believes that AI would make this world a better place.
As she prepares for her next Masters Degree in Norway, Irena hopes to present her work at more festivals and other platforms. She also looks forward to developing her work with AI and classical dance by collaborating with industry experts who can provide a solid technical base for her choreography.
Source: indiaai.gov.in
