This past summer, MIT's Distributed Robotics Lab, part of the Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Lab, partnered with the dance troupe Pilobolus to create "Seraph," a dance between two flying robots and a human. The MIT dancers were four-bladed robotic helicopters fashioned with programmable LED lights and controlled offstage.
According to the Pilobolus blog, the dance, set to a Schubert piano trio, explores the expressive potential of machines and presents in the process a powerful commentary on the fundamental nature of dance.
Take a look at some footage from previews of the 2011 American Dance Festival.
