DanceHack 2026: Resonant Bodies Brings Movement and Technology into Dialogue

Presented by Kinetech Arts and co-sponsored by the Berkeley Center for New Media, the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation, and the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT), DanceHack 2026 continued its tradition as a collaborative space for experimentation at the intersection of dance and technology.

Now an annual event, DanceHack brings together participants from across disciplines for a multi-day “hackathon” centered not on code alone, but on embodied exploration. Through workshops, collaborative prototyping, and performances, participants are encouraged to challenge assumptions, exchange knowledge, and co-create new forms of expression.

This year’s theme, Resonant Bodies, asked participants to reflect on how bodies “vibe” with one another—and with the technologies they engage. Across workshops and collaborative sessions, attendees explored questions of connection, responsiveness, and coexistence between the organic and the digital.

Programming included hands-on workshops in motion capture, AI voice agents, real-time video integration, and contact improvisation, alongside open-ended hacking sessions where participants developed experimental performances. The event culminated in a public showcase at the Jacobs Institute, where works-in-progress were shared through performances and presentations.

A key idea that emerged throughout the weekend was the concept of resonance—not just as a technical or aesthetic effect, but as a way of relating across bodies, environments, and systems.

From the recap video:

"It's one thing to just be a moving body in a space by yourself. You’re maybe resonating with your ancestors, different experiences, the world—there are different contexts as you keep changing. When you’re dancing with another person, you’re starting to resonate with that other person. If you're dancing with technology, we invite you to consider that same sensitivity between the body and the technology."

By centering resonance as both a metaphor and a method, DanceHack 2026 fostered a space where experimentation extended beyond tools and techniques to include new ways of sensing, collaborating, and imagining futures with technology.