A good performer knows how to pull in an audience with their movement, with their breathing, with their intention. They’re bringing way more than the dance steps to the stage,” she says. “When you’re working with robots, you don’t have that.”

What’s more, because our brains don’t fire the same way when we’re watching a robot as when we’re watching humans, artists can leverage how machines can alter an audience’s perception of choreography. “We relate to their movement totally differently,” Cuan says. “With robots, your mirror neurons don’t map it to your own experience as they do when... See more