iii commissioned a new work for Kexin Hao’s residency, ‘Future Dance of Nostalgia’, which explores ancient human activities of production in the form of an interactive dance game and as an investigation into the human body as an archive.
Through the research on work songs in which singing/chanting helps choreograph the repetitive manual labour, the artist tries to trace out how our moving bodies used to cooperate in the extinct activities of production. From here she questions: how do we preserve the body movements and restore our moving bodies as the living archives? Can we restore it on this body of you and me, now and here?
Future Dance of Nostalgia is a dancing game which invites audiences to perform the choreography that extracts and abstracts the movements found in the pre-industrial, heavy physical labour, and work songs. Motion tracking technology allows the body movements to be quantified, measured, and evaluated. Historical archives of work songs provide the inspiration for the music that renders the old tales and melodies into clubbing beats that lead the dance.
Through ethnographic research into work songs and the moving body, the project draws much needed attention to alternative historical archives of our times. The gaming technology, visual, and music, bring people closer to the past through a tangible and modern experience. The work also brings fun and togetherness to audience through public participatory dance sessions and interactive gameplay.
Collaborators: Leonardo Scarin (game development), Ludmila Rodrigues (choreography), Rachwill Breidel (music), Pedro Gossler (videography, 3D), and Dima Ibrahim (sound mixing).
Supported by:
Creative Industries Fund NL
the Creative Europe program of the European Union
Stroom Den Haag
Rewire Festival 2022