This paper on Tan Chai Chen’s graduation project Thought and Voice of the Body provides a discourse on her choreographic works based on the body as a theme. The choreography explores the relationship between the body and technology, modern society and religion in three works, Double Sound, Self-accusation and Ventriloquy. The body is the main theme of the project, as well as the main medium of dance choreography and dance performance. The first chapter discusses two main ideas—the body as creative medium and the subjectivity of the body. This chapter briefly describes the origins of the three works. The second chapter reveals the creative process of Double Sound. In collaboration with multimedia artist Au Sow Yee, both artists explore the relationship between movement, sound and light, to construct the interdisciplinary work, Double Sound. The third chapter discusses Self-accusation, which tries to open up a conversation between the dancing bodies and Peter Handke’s script, “Self-accusation.” This piece explores the existence of the self in modern society, questions the body (as defined by text) and tries to redefine the body itself as a language. The fourth chapter discusses Ventriloquy, which tries to give voice to the Muslim female, and criticizes the value given to female bodies by religion. Ventriloquy combines drums, Islamic veil and body movement to defamiliarize the image of the female body, where drums are used as a metaphor for the patriarchy as well as for the women’s repressed voice. In the fifth chapter, the choreographer reflects on her creative process and summarizes her thoughts on the idea of body.
- Video&Audio
- Dance
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