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The 2026 SF Dance Film Festival presents the story of a man who taught the world to move like a machine, and helped invent an art form along the way.TICKETS: https://sfdancefilmfest.org/fall-festival-2026/robert-shields/
EVENT DESCRIPTION:
Robert Shields: My Life as a Robot celebrates the extraordinary, and often invisible, impact one artist can have on the world. In the 1970s, Robert Shields began performing his signature robot routine outside the Hollywood Wax Museum before later moving to street performances in San Francisco’s Union Square. Within a few short years, he and his wife, Lorene Yarnell, were headlining their own hit CBS variety series, The Shields & Yarnell Show. What Robert didn’t fully realize at the time was that his robot would go on to influence the DNA of popping, locking, and hip-hop dance as we know it today.
Funny, joyful, and full of genuine wonder, the film introduces you to a man who makes you believe anything is possible — including, as Robert demonstrates, street skiing through downtown San Francisco.
Followed by a live performance by Poppin John; a Q&A with Robert Shields, director Mark Bonn, producer Christine Seibert Bonn, and Poppin John, moderated by Peter L. Stein; and a post-screening reception in the lobby.
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Event venue
Brava, 2781 24th St,San Francisco, California, United States
Tickets
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Festivals in San FranciscoDance in San FranciscoHip-hop-dance in San FranciscoRobotics in San FranciscoFilmmaking in San FranciscoPerforming-arts in San Francisco