The origins of intelligence

This choreographic performance interrogates the foundations of consciousness and the role of the body in the emergence of intelligence. The work traces the tension between biological evolution and artificial cognition, asking whether intelligence can exist without movement—or thought without sensation. Guided by enactivist perspectives, the piece unfolds between the microscopic pulse of organic life and the glitch aesthetics of computational environments. Through this interplay, human physicality meets digital motion, composing a rhythmic architecture between the living and the synthetic.

Ultimately, the work advances a radical proposition: the body is not merely an instrument of thought, but its source, its memory, and its horizon.

Premiere: Oslo, 2025.

• Concept, Direction and Choreography: Diego Marín
• Performing artists: (Part I) Diego Marín; (Part II); Ana Esther Cruz, Othocani Cruz, Oswaldo Cárdenas, Karyme Ixchel González, Yasser Isaí Jiménez.
• Music: FXtion
• Light design: Braulio Amadis
• Staged visuals and video-mapping: 6A9
• AI-generated dance: Benedikte Wallace