When it comes to dance, Cassie Wang, a resident artist at the Boston Center for the Arts, doesn’t shy away from taking a scientific approach.
Wang’s work, in fact, blends dance, digital art and technology to explore big themes like identity, nostalgia and longing.
Born in Kansas and now based in Boston, Wang started her artistic journey at an early age when her mother enrolled her in ballet classes. Though ballet became a significant part of her life, it was contemporary dance that captured her true passion during high school, she said.
“I wasn’t sure at first if it was the dancing or just the friends I made,” Wang said, reflecting on her early days. “But by high school, I realized dance was something I truly wanted to pursue.”
Wang expanded her artistic practice to include various forms of visual arts, including oil painting, ceramics, and sculpture, alongside music. Her undergraduate studies, where she majored in computer science and minored in dance, shaped her unique approach to choreography, as she found inspiration in both the logical thinking required in coding and the fluidity of dance.
Her current project at the BCA, which was first shown in May, explores the themes of longing and memory, drawing heavily on Wang’s personal experiences of growing up in the Midwest. The choreography is influenced by the music of the indie band Big Thief, whose nostalgic sound mirrors the emotional depth of Wang’s work. “Longing is like the negative space in dance,” Wang explained. “It’s the gaps in our identity, the things we desire but don’t yet have.”
Wang has also incorporated technology into her artistic process. She uses machine learning algorithms to generate abstract, dream-like images based on text, which serve as a visual representation of memory and longing. “There’s something fascinating about how AI can take text and morph it into something almost otherworldly,” Wang said. “It’s like watching memories become distorted the more you try to hold onto them.” This innovative use of AI in her dance practice allows Wang to further blur the lines between human experience and digital expression.
As Wang continues to refine her craft, she remains focused on creating work that is both deeply personal and universally relatable. Her residency at the BCA has given her the platform to explore these ideas further, while fostering connections with the local dance community.
Wang’s residency will culminate in a final performance at the BCA next year, where she plans to continue exploring the balance between technology and the raw, physical nature of dance. The show is set to take place in early May.
