‘Rules of Life’ | Premiered January 2026

A boundary-defying collaboration with cancer researchers that explores the aggressive complexities of glioblastoma through dance, science, and human connection. Fusing the cutting-edge biomedical work of David Odde and Paolo Provenzano with Carl Flink’s visceral choreography, this performance asks how “the rules of life” of a cancer tumor can help inform better understanding across biology, human relationships, and society.

Immersing audiences in a crossover between scientific research, theatricality, and everyday humanity,  each performance will situate audiences in different seating "pods" that allow for the performance to unfold as if mimicing the movement of veins. Audiences will be guided to enter the theater in groups to then find a seat in their respective pod. 

Rules of Life is an evolution of Black Label’s long-standing collaboration with cancer researchers David Odde and Paolo Provenzano using the Bodystorming System. Bodystorming allows dancers and scientists to model and test biological behavior in real time—giving researchers new ways to explore ideas and refine hypotheses before they even step into the lab. It doesn’t cure cancer on its own, but it does help researchers rapidly test ideas, understand potential treatments successes and failures, and push discovery forward in ways traditional labs and digital modeling can’t.

Bodystorming itself is focused on the science - using art as a tool. Rules of Life flips the script and uses the science to create a performance inviting audiences to explore how the fundamental principles that guide cells can also reveal something about how we live, connect, and make choices as humans. Learn more about Bodystorming HERE.