“i/o” New Mexico Dance Hackathon 2025 Performance

As part of ARTSLab’s New Mexico Dance Hackathon program, dancers and technology artists collaborated over several months to create new works that explored a range of topics, movement styles, and technological tools. The participants were encouraged to take creative risks and were supported by a team of artists versed in technology and choreography to help each project reach its full potential. Many of the artists are planning to continue their collaborations or developing the concepts and techniques explored during the Hackathon.

UNM Adjunct Eden Radfarr created a work that explores absence, black holes, and the potential that is present in the darkness and space in our lives. She worked with Amy Taylor on visuals, Blayne Greiner created sound for the piece, and Madrone Matysiak developed choreography for the three dancers: Lara Segura, Laura Orozco Garrett, and Elyse Fahey. Lead Program coordinators Sarah Bennett-Davidson and Madrone Matysiak also collaborated on a work together, back and forth, which explored how we can build systems of understanding and communication between entities that have no prior knowledge or understanding of the other. Kevin Paul contributed live sound to the piece. ARTSLab director Stewart Skylar Copeland worked with two local dancers Amanda Hamp and Bobcat Ranf to develop a work that is both humorous and sincere and incorporates 360 camera video as well as live point cloud footage. The trio plans on expanding the work in the future.

Other projects included Mas(c)k by Erin Meadors with visuals by Michael Pino, meanwhile by Elyse Fahey, which featured her works of visual art, and Loops(1) by Sarah Bennett-Davidson which used motion capture from Merce Cunningham with dancing by Elyse Fahey and sound by Blayne Greiner.