Dance Company Pilobolus Unveils Behind-The-Scenes Trailer Of 'Automaton' (VIDEO)

The New York-based dance company Pilobolus released a behind-the-scenes trailer of it's new work, Automaton. It's a collaborative piece choreographed by internationally-known Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, that takes place on a mirror filled stage inhabited by robotic dancers.

In the video, dancers are shown in dense groups, at times moving in labored sequences, seemingly dressing each other in complicated robotic gear and acting like pieces of a larger machine. But at other times the mechanized movements are contrasted by fluid dips and whole body rolls, a combination of mechanic and organic that the choreographer, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, explains as, erm, "organical." The performance is described in the teaser's accompanying press release as a "cyborg of a dance," a reference to these droid-like body motions, and perhaps also to an underlying narrative depicting a blurred line between human and machine.

Automaton will have its New York premier as a part of Pilobolus's 2012 Joyce Theater engagement, which will run from July 16th through August 11th.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled 'Pilobolus.' We apologize for the error.