Choy Ka Fai's Electrostimulation Experiments and Wellcome Collection's Dance Research Exhibition
In his 2011 work, Prospectus for a Future Body, Choy Ka Fai, also known as Ka5, investigates the concept of movement memory through the use of electrical muscle stimulation. He reinterprets a 1973 performance by Tatsumi Hijikata in Eternal Summer Storm, employing sonic vibrations. The project Notion: Dance Fiction integrates electrostimulation with choreography inspired by Pina Bausch and Pichet Klunchun. His long-term initiative, Soft Machine, which began in 2011, critiques the Western view of Asian contemporary dance through collaborations in China, Japan, India, Indonesia, and Singapore, with new elements debuting in Singapore in November 2013. Meanwhile, the Wellcome Collection in London presents research on the mind-body connection with Wayne McGregor's Random Dance, exploring how dancers learn movements and develop gestural languages.
Key facts
- Choy Ka Fai (Ka5) uses electrical muscle stimulation to reproduce choreography in Prospectus for a Future Body (2011)
- Eternal Summer Storm recreates Tatsumi Hijikata's 1973 performance via sonic vibrations
- Notion: Dance Fiction applies electrostimulation to a dancer using choreography from Pina Bausch and Pichet Klunchun
- Soft Machine (2011–) addresses Western exoticism in Asian contemporary dance representation
- Soft Machine involves dancers from China, Japan, India, Indonesia, and Singapore
- Soft Machine's first elements will be shown in Singapore in November 2013
- Wellcome Collection in London exhibits ten years of research on mind-movement connections with Wayne McGregor's Random Dance company
- Dancers memorize movements through visualization techniques like imagining cityscapes on stage
Entities
Artists
- Choy Ka Fai
- Ka5
- Tatsumi Hijikata
- Pina Bausch
- Pichet Klunchun
- Wayne McGregor
Institutions
- Wellcome Collection
- Random Dance company
- ArtReview
Locations
- London
- United Kingdom
- Singapore
- China
- Japan
- India
- Indonesia