More details coming soon.

PAST CONCERTS

3RD LAW departs from the traditional indoor performance to take on the tri-level parking garage adjacent to the Century Theaters at Boulder’s 29th St. Mall – 1700 29th St. A site-specific program will transform the garage into a theatrical world and lead the audience on a journey from the ground level to the rooftop.

All performances begin at 8pm with arrival beginning at 7:30pm. Please bring your own (off the ground) lawn/camp chair that is easy to move. Limited seating.

Directions: Turn into the 29th St. complex from 30th St. Signs will point audience toward garage entrance and parking. Bathroom available on the ground level.

ELISION PROJECT VOL. 3
November 22, 23, 24, 2019

EPV.3 exemplifies 3rd Law’s devotion to live music collaboration. This year we are honored to be working with Bonnie Paine (Elephant Revival) and Enion Pelta (Taarka ) from the folk and bluegrass communities as well as Denver’s famed prepared-guitarist and composer, Janet Feder (Tiny Desk Concert, BMoCA’s MediaLive) and her electronic music partner, Colin Bricker (Mighty Fine Productions). Finally, Boulder’s choir, the Ars Nova Singers, will perform music from the Renaissance and 21st century.

BMOCA COLLABORATION
January 16, 2020

3rd Law offers an immersive dance performance inspired by the work of exhibiting artist Gretchen Marie Schaefer. 3rd Law Co-Directors Katie Elliott and Paul Fowler provide original choreography and soundscore with the company of dancers.

SPRING CONCERT (POSTPONED)
April 17, 18, 19, 2020

Exploring the adaptations arising in nature amidst the dawn of the anthropocene. We look to nature to inform humanity’s path through the extreme changes befalling our planet.

3RD LAW AT THE ARVADA CENTER (POSTPONED)
June 6, 2020

3rd Law opens The Arvada Center’s Summer Series. More details coming soon.

3RD LAW AT THE ASPEN FRINGE FESTIVAL (POSTPONED)
June 12, 2020

3rd Law shares and evening with San Francisco based company SoulSkin Dance. More details coming soon.

OPEN SPACE EVENTS THIS SEASON — JAN 31

This event has grown. 22 choreographers last year! To make room for more choreographers and create shorter events that more people can attend we are limiting the number of choreographers to 12. More info coming soon. Contact Michelle Pugh at rehearsaldirector@3rdlaw.org if you have any questions.

PAST EVENTS

3RD LAW’S DANCE FOR PARKINSON’S PROGRAM
Brings The PD Crane Dance Project to Boulder

At the World Parkinson’s Congress in Kyoto, Japan, Dance for Parkinson’s groups from around the world created dances inspired by the origami cranes in the art installation “Soaring with Hope”. Join 3rd Law on Nov 3 for a community event to see highlights of this inspiring footage. David Leventhal (co-founder of Mark Morris Dance Group’s Dance for PD® Program) will Skype in from NY joining Clara Kluge, the force behind the Crane Dance Project, to take us inside the conference that brought 148 Dance for PD groups from around the world together. Kluge will lead us in creating origami cranes to build our own garden of hope. Tickets: $12-$15. Voucher for free 3rd Law Dance for Parkinson’s class for every ticket purchased.

3RD LAW OPENED
THE ARVADA CENTERS’ SUMMER SERIES

An evening of the best of 3rd Law! We’re taking a pole and asking our audience what their favorite pieces are from our two decades of creating original work. These pieces will show the breadth of what 3rd Law offers. Quirky theatrical work, beautiful collaborations with composers and striking visual investigations with digital media artists. Get a taste of everything 3rd Law is about.

OBSTINATE PEARL
APR 5 @ 7:30pm, APR 6 @ 3pm and 7:30pm, APR 7 @ 3pm
One Weekend (4 performances) at The Dairy Arts Center in Boulder

Inside Boulder News – March 22, 2019 from City of Boulder on Vimeo.

A collaboration with Boulder Bach Festival’s Venice On Fire trio of electric instruments performing works by Barbara Strozzi, Robert de Visée, Heinrich Biber and others in collaboration with 3rd Law. Gal Faganel, cello; Keith Barnhart, guitar; Zachary Carrettin, violin. Driven by the transcendent music of J.S. Bach, The Obstinate Pearl is rife with dramatic moments created by the duel of sound and movement, as dancers and musician move through time, drawing the audience forward from the seventeenth century into the modern era.

SINGULARITY
NOV 30 @ 7:30pm, DEC 1 @ 3pm and 7:30pm, DEC 2 @ 3pm
One Weekend (4 performances) at The Dairy Arts Center in Boulder

The “Technological Singularity” describes an imminent explosion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that surpasses human capacity at an exponential rate.

Award-winning choreographer Katie Elliott co-directs this evening with critically acclaimed composer Paul Fowler, exploring the positive and negative effects of AI on human civilization. This original evening of dance/theater investigates the “Singularity” through futurist philosophical texts, a hauntingly beautiful score by Fowler, dynamic multimedia, and the signature lush, virtuosic choreography of the 3rd Law Dance/Theater.

“Every 3rd Law performance is filled with penetrating ideas, cutting edge theatrical staging and passionate execution, merging the sheer beauty of dance with sophisticated concepts. This world-class dance company inspires audiences on multiple levels!”

Experts in the field of computer science claim that in this century technological developments will surpass human intelligence. “We chose to do this concert because it’s happening now,” says Elliott. “The ‘technological singularity,’ as defined by Vernor Vinge 25 years ago, doesn’t just exist in Hollywood movies like The Matrix, AI, Ex Machina, etc. Artificial intelligence surrounds us, it’s in our phones, behind our markets, it is the engine of Silicon Valley’s economic success. It gathers and analyzes our data, modifies our behavior, and touches our daily lives.”

3rd Law’s new innovative work poses these questions: What happens when humans are no longer needed for technological growth on the planet? What does the supposed post-humanity world look or feel like? Are we diving into our demise or, suggests Fowler, “Can we use this technology to move positively toward a life where machines do all our mundane work, making room for a new renaissance of human creativity? Can the Singularity be a flashpoint of human enlightenment which solves the dilemmas of our world: climate change, poverty, hunger, and injustice?”

Informed by writings of computer scientists Jaron Lanier, Ray Kurzweil and philosopher Jean Baudrillard, 3rd Law dives into the proposed questions to create a visually tantalizing and haunting performance. The piece unfolds in three sections. The first explores the worst-case scenario of a post-human dystopia. The second maps our current path with technology, incessantly driving us toward the Singularity. The third, and most poignant, paints an alternative scenario, where the Singularity deepens and improves our connections to each other, our embodied selves, and our planet. As computer scientist Ray Kurzweil posits, “All different forms of human expression, art, science, are going to become expanded, by expanding our intelligence.”

ABOUT THE MOVEMENT
Because our medium is modern/contemporary dance, our approach is not a narrative structure that tells a story but rather a series of images, environments and physical expressions of the theme that audience members will carry away to ponder, question and feel. Choreographer Katie Elliott uses 3rd Law’s signature methods to develop gestures, movement phrases, and physical conversations drawn from in-depth research and each dancer’s unique experiences.

For this evening, some of the movement was created using the dancers’ personal data (gender, race, medical history, location, etc.) as understood by a hypothetical Artificial Intelligence. Elliott and Fowler also examined more “human” qualities that may be misunderstood by an AI. These “elegant dichotomies” include concepts such as vibrating stillness, fearful courage, decorative simplicity, complacent reflection – ideas humans can comprehend but may be interpreted as paradoxical by an AI. “The dancers are intensely involved in developing the movement,” says Elliott. “The magic is how individual interpretations align when informed by the same choreographic direction without losing the unique voice of each performer.”