SYDNEY SKYBETTER

Sydney Skybetter is a choreographer. His work has been performed around the country at such venues as The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, The Boston Center for the Arts, Jacob’s Pillow and The Joyce Theater. He has consulted on issues of cultural change and technology for The National Ballet of Canada, The Jerome Robbins Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Hasbro, New York University and The University of Southern California, among others. As a speaker, he lectures on topics from dance history to cultural futurism, most recently at Harvard University, South by Southwest Interactive, TEDx, Saatchi and Saatchi, Dance/USA, NYU and MVR5. He is a Public Humanities Fellow and Lecturer at Brown University, where he researches the problematics of human computer interfaces and mixed reality systems.

Skybetter is the founder of the Conference for Research on Choreographic Interfaces (CRCI), which convenes ethnographers, anthropologists, speculative designers and performing artists to discuss the choreography of the Internet of Things. He produces shows at Joe’s Pub, SteelStacks and OBERON with DanceNOW[NYC], has served as a Grant Panelist for the National Endowment of the Arts, is a Curatorial Advisor for Fractured Atlas’ Exponential Creativity Fund, and is the winner of a RISCA Fellowship in Choreography from the State of Rhode Island. He received his MFA in Choreography from New York University.
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In 2017, Skybetter started NCCAkron's inaugural Research Residency. His co-host on campus is The University of Akron's Biomimicry Research and Innovation Center (BRIC), a center dedicated to the advancement of innovation inspired by nature. In advance of Skybetter's first trip, remote meetings were held with Skybetter and BRIC's principal investigators and faculty. Skybetter met with BRIC in-person upon arriving in Akron to assess available facilities and discuss future research possibilities. He also took a field trip enlisting local dance company Verb Ballets to join him at New Territory (a virtual reality arcade), capitalizing on their movement knowledge and reflecting on it in a virtual experience.