Artist Spotlight - Imogen Reeve

Each week, we’re shining a light on the incredible artists we collaborate with at The Middle Floor. We work on a diverse range of projects with our artists – and now, it’s time for you to get to know more about the artists behind the work.

© Elly Welford

Who are you, and how would you describe your work? I’m an artist, choreographer, and researcher working at the intersection of 
choreography, technology, and AI.  Over the past five years, I’ve led a nationally 
touring dance company that explores how bodies and emerging 
technologies shape and re-shape one another. I have just been offered a fully 
funded, practice-led, PhD where I will extend this inquiry through a transhuman 
feminist lens, critically examining how gender bias operates within choreographic applications of AI.

Alongside the performance work I make I also guest lecture in choreographic 
practice at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, supervise MA 
research projects and mentor emerging artists.

How would you describe your approach to creating or preparing for a new project or idea? ​ My approach is deeply intuitive and collaborative. I often begin with a provocation—sometimes a technological curiosity, sometimes a conceptual or political question—and then build a process around embodied experimentation. I trust the people in the room with me as equal collaborators and I value knowledge generated from the body as much as knowledge generated from theory. We always do a 2-hour movement lab to start each day which is a site to dive into choreographic textures: detailed, repeatable movement materials that function as research tools. These movement materials act as provocations, pushing the body toward sites of disruption, refinement, and expanded agency. I draw from feminist and post humanist theory to frame the context of the work, and I often build in public sharings or workshops throughout the process to open up the research and invite external perspectives. I’m obsessed with sci fi, robots having feelings and the end of the world. I don’t really want to make shows – I’m trying to build universes.My approach is deeply intuitive and collaborative. I often begin with a provocation—sometimes a technological curiosity, sometimes a conceptual or political question—and then build a process around embodied experimentation. I trust the people in the room with me as equal collaborators and I value knowledge generated from the body as much as knowledge generated from theory. We always do a 2-hour movement lab to start each day which is a site to dive into choreographic textures: detailed, repeatable movement materials that function as research tools. These movement materials act as provocations, pushing the body toward sites of disruption, refinement, and expanded agency. I draw from feminist and post humanist theory to frame the context of the work, and I often build in public sharings or workshops throughout the process to open up the research and invite external perspectives. I’m obsessed with sci fi, robots having feelings and the end of the world. I don’t really want to make shows – I’m trying to build universes.

Are there any themes or ideas you find yourself returning to in your work? Donna Haraways Cyborg Manifesto has been present for me for many years now, alongside questions of agency, embodiment, and power which come up again and again. I am fascinated by the impact technology is having on the performance of hyper femininity, and I love pop culture which I think is a site which really makes these things visibile. I’m also interested in how technologies—particularly generative and intelligent systems—construct/ transform / constrain the body, and how performance might resist, reframe, or hack those systems. Underpinning all of this is a desire to surface and subvert the often-unseen biases coded into digital tools and interfaces, and a fascination with how we are transforming ourselves and our futures through the application of AI. Could it be fully automated luxury communism time baby?

What has been one of the most rewarding projects you’ve worked on so far, and why? ​ One of the most rewarding projects I've worked on recently was my most recent show, We Are The World, which brought together dancers, generative AI systems, and immersive projection to explore co-creation between human and machine. This work felt like a culmination of years of experimentation - technically, creatively, and conceptually. It was the first time I was able to integrate AI not as a tool used in pre-production, but as an embodied presence within the live choreographic space. The show interrogated how agency moves between systems and bodies, and offered a space for audiences to reflect on how bias, control, and collaboration manifest in technologically mediated encounters. It was also significant because it marked the beginning of my PhD journey, grounding the research in lived, felt, and shared experience. The response was kind of insane - people were curious, unsettled, asking wild questions, people cried. It was like the work ‘glitched’ them a bit and that really meant a lot to me.

How do you balance creative work with the more practical aspects of being a working artist? Like many artists, I wear multiple hats—creative, producer, fundraiser, collaborator. Honestly, right now everything is really fucking hard and everyone keeps telling me that. I’m like in a doom spiral with all of my friends, but, to be honest, I’ve never waited for permission to justify making the work. Yes, artists should be paid, and the work we do has value—but what if there’s no money? You can be paid nothing and do nothing, or you can be paid nothing and do something. I’ve always chosen the latter. I believe in self-organising, in sustainability that doesn’t rely entirely on external validation. We cannot keep waiting for someone to save us—they are not coming. That said, I think there are rules to this way of working: ∙

If there is money, share the money—obviously. ∙
Everyone has to be getting something meaningful from the process beyond money, and it's everyone's responsibility to make sure that happens. ∙
Collaborate. ∙
Be transparent.
Be kind. ∙
And this work is too hard not to find joy in it—so try to have fun.

This approach naturally leans toward co-creation rather than a top-down dynamic. It challenges traditional choreographer/dancer hierarchies and creates space for more horizontal, care-driven, and creative forms of making. It also asks for real engagement - being physically present, supporting the spaces and communities you want to be part of. Support the venues you care about - go to the shows, go to the workshops, buy the beer. Don’t just expect things to happen - make them happen.

Are there any upcoming projects you're currently working toward or where can we next see you? ​ I have a couple of shows coming up in October / November time, and I am hoping to start on a new show this August / September so if that happens, we will be hosting more open movement labs, as we have been doing all year. Fingers crossed!

Keep up-to-date with Imogen Reeve & Excessive Human Collective via Instagram: @imogen_reeve & @excessive.human.collective