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Jesse Stiles Tours with Multimedia Dance Work "Open Machine"

April 10, 2026

This spring, Stamps Associate Professor Jesse Stiles will embark on a national tour with Open Machine, an immersive, multimedia dance performance featuring live speech-to-text, projected visuals, and virtual renderings that respond in real time. Following an acclaimed première at New York City’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in September 2025, Open Machine will travel to Houston, Los Angeles, Boston, and Minneapolis.

Open Machine is an evening-length multimedia performance that imagines an Artificial Intelligence lovingly programmed-and joyfully exploded-by experimental dance. The piece explores the intersections of thought, movement, and technology through dance, blurring the boundaries between the body and the machine.

Two dancers perform on a dimly lit stage under purple and blue lights. The front dancer has their arms outstretched, wearing a teal top and wide red trousers, while a large abstract graphic is projected on a screen above them.
A dancer in a green top and bright orange pants leaps in mid-air on a dark stage. Above them, three large screens display a colorful, abstract speckled pattern resembling a starry galaxy.
Several dancers in colorful athletic wear perform on a stage with two large screens overhead. One screen shows the text "THERE ARE NO MEN." while the other displays a scene of a person in an orange jumpsuit.

As Media Designer & Creative Technologist, Stiles collaborates with choreographers Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riene, composers Charmaine Lee and Mas Ysa, lighting designer Davison Scandrett, and a dynamic cast and crew of artists to bring this ambitious work to life.

Tour Dates: