Staff Reports | Happenings & Events
Cutting-edge AI-powered visuals, 600 synchronized drones, live acrobatics, music, and fire effects.
Sounds like something you might see in Las Vegas, but from May 2-4, Drone Stories, the internationally renowned award-winning pioneers of aerial storytelling, are bringing a never-before-seen spectacle to the Arizona desert with the world premiere of AI Love You.
This first-of-its-kind immersive drone light circus co-created by world class artists and advanced AI will be hosted at Rawhide Western Town & Event Center in Chandler, according to a press release.
AI Love You will be a genre-defying event that fuses cinematic and multi-sensory experiences to explore the evolving relationship between humanity and artificial intelligence through a spellbinding visual narrative, the release states.
Co-created by Ralph Nauta of Studio Drift and Lucas van Oostrum, co-founder of Amsterdam-based Drone Stories, the show marks a new frontier in live entertainment.
“This show is completely different to anything we’ve done before,” said Ralph Nauta.
“It combines multiple media — live acting, dance, video work, choreography. There’s also a longer narrative arc, giving us more time to explore the story in depth. Normally, with a simple drone show we only have nine or ten minutes to tell a story. Now, with a much larger time frame and different ways to present it, we can add more nuance. We don’t have to rush to the end; we can take our time to craft something truly engaging.”
Visual directors Polina Zakharova and Sveta Yermolaeva of New York’s Hard Feelings Studio brings their expertise in 3D visuals and CGI to the show, crafting a dazzling fusion of light, movement, and emotion. The sensory experience will be further elevated by Walter Productions, a Phoenix-based collaborative known for its mesmerizing fire effects, over-the-top productions and art cars.
LA-based live electronic composer, multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and producer David Block will also bring his AI-assisted compositions as the soundtrack to AI Love You blending machine-generated elements with human created soundscapes to create an emotional and psychedelic element to the show.
“Phoenix is a booming city with immense growth in the tech and innovation space, and an up-and-coming arts and cultural community which made it the perfect host for this world-premiere,” Mr. von Oostrum said in a prepared statement. “With wide open skies, great weather and an amazing group of visionary partners and minds behind this show, we know this will be an event not to be missed.”
