Manning Dong is a Zurich-based dancer and choreographer from China; expanding from a classical background into contemporary dance, she uses physicality, sociality, and sensorial exploration as choreographic tools. The sound is shaped by Joel Gilardini, a Zurich-based experimental guitarist, composer, and sound designer known for his work in ambient/drone and noise-industrial genres, with extensive experience composing for theater, film, and dance. The performance is completed by Vanessa Spörri, a Lucerne-based artist focused on contemporary dance and dance theatre.
This space is a field that is constantly being tested, responded to, and reorganized. Through installations, lighting, and game structures, we aim to explore how the body perceives, responds to, and adapts itself within ever-changing spatial conditions, whilst jointly activating the site with those present. Amidst a variety of images, we observe, adjust, and co-create. In this process, the collective energy generated through perception becomes sensitive and intertwined, and together we embark on a journey into the unknown.
I am particularly interested in what happens when participants enter into this relationship. Their presence does not merely occupy space; through movement, attention, distance, interaction and communication, they can alter the atmosphere of the space, the distribution of attention and the interpersonal relationships within it. In this sense, space is not merely a physical environment, but rather a relational field that is constantly shaped by all participants.
I am interested in how this mutual influence makes us more aware of our own existence: how we are affected by the situation, how we in turn influence it, and how participation itself becomes a way of questioning and creating the present moment. In the final section of the performance, we gradually shift the focus onto the audience. They are no longer mere bystanders, but become part of the situation at hand. Together with the musicians, their movements, attention, presence and reactions begin to shape everything that takes place within the space. Through this redistribution of creative agency and attention, the performance is no longer created solely by the performers. It emerges from the audience, the musicians, the space, and the relationships they collectively build, all of whom are actively engaged in the unfolding of the present moment.
Our performance took place in the underground space at Art Dock, where the shape, light and shadow, and depth of the space captivated me deeply. By altering the music, lighting and distances during the performance, we shaped the forms and the traces left within the space, which continually influenced my perception of the body and movement. These elements became part of the work, and also represented the manifestation in the present of our response to the past within this unique space. A fleeting encounter between those present and the specific moments we create together.
What do we leave behind through our presence?
Time weaves together my experiences; the impending loss of existence renders the present all the more fragile, yet all the more tangible. The past influences our perception of the present, whilst our present creations may in turn become traces that extend into the future.
This raises a question that is central to my creative practice: when our existence is fleeting, what exactly do we leave behind?
© Portrait by Valentina Bubola