Abu Dhabi, January 31, 2019: The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi is delighted to welcome contemporary dance and live electronic music performance Autobiography by Company Wayne McGregor on February 7 and 8 at 8pm.

Fresh off the back of the Imagine Science Film Festival, Autobiography is a scientific segway that sees the meeting of contemporary dance from award-winning British choreographer Wayne McGregor, and live music from American electronic music innovator JLin. Featuring ten outstanding dancers and a dazzling lighting and stage set, the choreography is based on McGregor’s genomic sequence. Never before seen in the UAE, Autobiography takes place in The Red Theater, where the performance will canvas McGregor’s genetic makeup, as well as the recollections that have played an important part of his life; it is an abstract meditation on aspects of self, life, writing, refracting both remembered pasts and speculative futures.

Impressively, Autobiography delivers a unique experience with every performance via an algorithm, which continuously re-imagines the choreography. The performance is supported by the British Council, extending a relationship with The Arts Center which began during last year’s UK in the UAE initiative.

Fused with the choreography is the music from JLin, a former steel mill worker from Indiana, USA, who was credited with bringing a unique sound to the Chicago-born footwork genre. She began producing music in 2008, and her track Erotic Heat featured on the 2011 Planet Mu compilation Bangs and Works Vol. 2. The song was later used to accompany a 2014 Rick Owens fashion show, and her debut album, Dark Energy, was released in 2015 to critical acclaim. JLin was also selected to compose for Kronos Quartet’s Fifty for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire, a string quartet commissioning initiative for which The Arts Center is a Legacy partner.

As ever, The Arts Center continues to offer more than just a show, as a dance masterclass with Company Wayne McGregor has been made available on February 4 at 7pm. Intermediate to professional dancers aged 16+ will be led by Jordan Bridge and Rebecca Bassett-Graham from the company, which includes a high energy technique based warm up, followed by teaching some of repertoire and creative tasks that reflect the way McGregor works in the studio. There are limited spaces available, sign up here.

As part of McGregor’s ongoing interest in bridging the arts and science, he will also participate in NYUAD’s Center for Genomics and Systems Biology Symposium IX at the NYUAD Institute, as well as visiting selected NYUAD classes in theater/Core Curriculum, while JLin will visit classes in the Music program.

Executive Artistic Director at The Arts Center Bill Bragin is delighted to bring such talent to the capital’s shores, saying: “Since we started, The Arts Center has focused on groundbreaking artists whose work crosses the borders of art and science, engineering, philosophy and other disciplines, extending the interdisciplinary focus of NYUAD’s liberal arts curriculum. Wayne McGregor is a perfect artist for us. He’s not only one of the most important choreographers in the UK, but globally, choreographing for his own virtuosic company as well as bringing his inventive vision to major ballet companies worldwide, indie music artists like Radiohead, and delivering incisive TED Talks. McGregor’s special interest in linking scientific research and technological interventions to cutting edge contemporary dance will be a memorable addition to The Arts Center’s history of presenting choreographers whose work redefines their discipline. And JLin’s funky, abstract electronic score brings perfectly complements this adventurous artistic vision.”