Taiwanese choreographer's robotic arm dance show debuts in Japan

Taipei, Aug. 4 (CNA) Taiwanese choreographer Huang Yi (黃翊) and his industrial robot "Kuka" made their Japan debut on Sunday with a human-machine dance performance as part of Taiwan's "We Taiwan" exhibit at the Kansai Expo in Osaka.

Held at the Osaka City Central Public Hall, the performance was part of a government-sponsored program to showcase Taiwanese cultural output.

The show, which features Huang dancing in sync with a robotic arm called "Kuka," has toured 47 cities since its 2012 premiere.

This was the first time the show had been staged in Japan, and a Japanese-language version of the audio description was recorded by a local voice actor.

The team previously produced an English-language version for the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in the United States.

Speaking at a post-show talk, Huang said that incorporating audio description was a way to "expand the possibilities for artistic participation."

"If art can help more people get closer to it, and allow visually impaired people to participate through audio description," he said, "then that's one way art, which is often seen as useless, can actually help people."

Huang also said performing in Japan felt like "a dream come true," explaining that the idea of dancing with a robot came from the Japanese manga Doraemon.

He showed the audience a childhood drawing of Doraemon that had been kept by his father.

"Although my life was difficult when I was young," he said, "Doraemon made me believe that technology could change one's destiny."

He added that the character's use of gadgets to help others influenced the way he created performances involving interaction with machines.

After working with Kuka for over a decade, Huang said it feels "a little like I've transferred part of my soul" into the robot.