Devil’s in the Details recap: A first-of-its-kind celebration of robot & animation dance

Chicago’s first Devil’s in the Details set out to create something different—and it delivered. Over three days, dancers, engineers, and artists came together for battles, showcases, workshops, and tech demos that blended tradition with innovation.

The 1v1 robot and animation battle pushed dancers into new territory with concept-driven rounds. The format sparked a mix of risk-taking and surprise, as one participant put it, “There were so many amazing rounds and moments in the battles themselves. The concept format meant we got to see a lot of variety, when the concepts were fully utilized.”

The showcases paid homage to busking and street performance traditions, with the audience casting votes for their favorite performances using play money. Eclypse, The Millennium Robot, appeared in his iconic silver-painted character. Alex “Prototype” Malblanc performed to Operator by Midnight Star, portraying a darkly comic narrative of a failed surgery. Rishi “Rift” Desai’s winning piece took the audience on an intergalactic mission that one attendee said, “felt like it was entirely made for this event.” The lineup also featured legendary pioneers of robot and animation dance, including Chicago’s own Robot Mafia and Los Angeles OG Boppin’ Andre, underscoring the deep lineage of these styles.

The workshops and tech demos shared lessons rooted in the technologies robot and animation dancers aim to emulate. From exploring how mechanical and digital systems inform robotic movement, to stop-motion animation insights from Dino Cristanti, a longtime stop motion animation artists with over 30 years of experience and a student of Ray Harryhausen himself, attendees left with new approaches to expression and tools for bringing their characters to life.

What tied everything together was the sense of ownership from the community itself. “The dedication from everyone to the theme and style,” another participant reflected. “It truly felt like an event for animators, by animators.”

By the end of the weekend, Devil’s in the Details had proven itself as more than a first-time event. It showed how battles, showcases, workshops, and tech demos can work together to bring generations and ideas into the same room, and how robot and animation continue to grow when given space to shine.

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