San Francisco Ballet to be set to sounds of seismic movements

BERKELEY, Calif. - A dance set to the sound of seismic movement is part of the San Francisco Ballet's commemoration of the 1906 earthquake centennial.

The idea for the dance comes from Ken Goldberg, an artist and professor of industrial engineering, computer science and robotics at the University of California, Berkeley.

Goldberg and his team have come up with a way to transmit seismic waves from the Hayward Fault into a concert hall to activate audible sounds and lighting. The signals, which come from a seismometer at UC Berkeley, will trigger sounds such as thunder claps and crashing waves, according to an announcement by campus officials Thursday.

SF Ballet principal dancer Muriel Maffre is set to improvise to the sounds in an eight-minute performance scheduled Tuesday that is part of a program marking the 100 years since the earthquake.

Ballet Mori Website