The Pulse Frequency Project
The Pulse Frequency Project attempts to induce a shared altered state of consciousness in the performers and the audience through the sound, light and movement frequencies. Sourcing material from the healing and artistic dimensions of the Taiwanese cultural/religious ceremony, Jiao, a week-long community extravaganza of rituals, I want to explore how experiential content can be shared in the performance context digitally and how sound and movement frequencies from a specific culture/religion retain the immediacy and authenticity, even if in a different way.
Research -
The video clip contains ideas for film and costumes, original movement material from Chinese Dance, choreography sketches and sound sample from Jiao procession.
The video clip contains ideas for film and costumes, original movement material from Chinese Dance, choreography sketches and sound sample from Jiao procession.
This video clip contains movement ideas for development.
The Pulse Frequency Project innovatively engages with the ritual procession Jiao, a cosmic renewal ceremony in Taiwan, by stripping away learned reactions to established symbolism, reconstructing the iconography of ceremony and reprogramming our perceptions. I will collaborate with composer Jasmin Kent Rodgman and film photographer Ning Zhou to create an immersive experience, drawing from the rich movement and atmospheric material of Jiao. The R&D will be live-streamed as part of Chinese Arts Now’s Spring Digital Festival between 20th and 30th April 2021.
Background -
My artistic practice as performer and choreographer spans dance, choreography and performance art. I have been performing in my own and other people’s work for 20 years. My collaborative performances, Snakes (with Owen Ridley DeMonick, 2019) and Dream Dangerous (with Zadie Xa & Benito Mayor Vallejo, 2020) connected my past artistic and personal life in Taiwan with present experience in European choreographies and performance art. These projects informed a desire to research and develop The Pulse Frequency Project, combining my Taiwanese heritage and my cross cultural artistic experiences.
Since 2011, my performances in galleries and theatres have sourced material from Butoh, Chinese dance and pop culture. In Dream Dangerous (for Zadie Xa and Beneto Mayor-Vallejo), I danced to the sound/light frequency 111Hz (cf. Haroon Mirza’s MindFlip). I was so impressed by the palpable sense of shared energy and calm during the performance that I wanted to explore the concept further.
As a child, Jiao procession - a cosmic renewal ritual ceremony - represented fear and wonder. The smorgasbord of sensations provided by the scents, sounds, images, dance acts and the solemn gestures and speeches of the Taoist priests encapsulated the ‘ideas of danger and disorder that transcend the earthly community’. I want to investigate the sound frequencies of Jiao, from instruments to firecrackers to prayer chants, and their psychosomatic effects, engaging with scientific research.
I was inspired by the medical use of brainwave-altering properties of sound and light frequencies in treatments for Parkinson's and Alzheimer’s diseases. Another source of inspiration is the correlation between colours and the body’s bio-electrical pathways in Chinese medicine. The sound, colour and movement from Jiao ceremony will be rendered in Hz frequencies, analysed, and then composed into sound score, lighting design and choreography. Scientific data on the effect of auditory and photic stimulation on states of consciousness will inform the duration and tempo of the sound, colour/light effects and movement. I will develop the theme of restoration and care, retaining and re-imagining some of the ritual elements -- offering, procession and arrival -- and the atmosphere of Jiao, characterised by playful interaction and contrasting emotions.
The Pulse Frequency Project is a reflection of and response to this moment. It seeks to dissolve the boundary between ritual and performance by transforming the movements and sensations from Jiao, drawing from the notion of ritualism in the contemporary choreography and performance art context and creating meanings of its own that celebrate rebirth and renewal.
My artistic practice as performer and choreographer spans dance, choreography and performance art. I have been performing in my own and other people’s work for 20 years. My collaborative performances, Snakes (with Owen Ridley DeMonick, 2019) and Dream Dangerous (with Zadie Xa & Benito Mayor Vallejo, 2020) connected my past artistic and personal life in Taiwan with present experience in European choreographies and performance art. These projects informed a desire to research and develop The Pulse Frequency Project, combining my Taiwanese heritage and my cross cultural artistic experiences.
Since 2011, my performances in galleries and theatres have sourced material from Butoh, Chinese dance and pop culture. In Dream Dangerous (for Zadie Xa and Beneto Mayor-Vallejo), I danced to the sound/light frequency 111Hz (cf. Haroon Mirza’s MindFlip). I was so impressed by the palpable sense of shared energy and calm during the performance that I wanted to explore the concept further.
As a child, Jiao procession - a cosmic renewal ritual ceremony - represented fear and wonder. The smorgasbord of sensations provided by the scents, sounds, images, dance acts and the solemn gestures and speeches of the Taoist priests encapsulated the ‘ideas of danger and disorder that transcend the earthly community’. I want to investigate the sound frequencies of Jiao, from instruments to firecrackers to prayer chants, and their psychosomatic effects, engaging with scientific research.
I was inspired by the medical use of brainwave-altering properties of sound and light frequencies in treatments for Parkinson's and Alzheimer’s diseases. Another source of inspiration is the correlation between colours and the body’s bio-electrical pathways in Chinese medicine. The sound, colour and movement from Jiao ceremony will be rendered in Hz frequencies, analysed, and then composed into sound score, lighting design and choreography. Scientific data on the effect of auditory and photic stimulation on states of consciousness will inform the duration and tempo of the sound, colour/light effects and movement. I will develop the theme of restoration and care, retaining and re-imagining some of the ritual elements -- offering, procession and arrival -- and the atmosphere of Jiao, characterised by playful interaction and contrasting emotions.
The Pulse Frequency Project is a reflection of and response to this moment. It seeks to dissolve the boundary between ritual and performance by transforming the movements and sensations from Jiao, drawing from the notion of ritualism in the contemporary choreography and performance art context and creating meanings of its own that celebrate rebirth and renewal.