奻 nuán (2022)
"奻 nuán" is a contemporary, multi-media work by choreographer and artist Lu Shirley Dai. It integrates the medium of the body, film, textiles and the space. Through the lens of the history, the present and the self, the work analyzes, deconstructs and recreates diverse female personalities and identities. The work consists of three sections, section I “Approaching Venus”, section II “The Everyday and the Divinity of Clothes” and section III “Becoming Nuán”.
"奻 nuán" was premiered on October 29th in Beijing.
Link for the full-length video of the work: https://vimeo.com/768864631
Directed & Choreographed by Lu Shirley Dai
Performance by Lu Shirley Dai & Yiyu Lin
Music composed by Kiyoshi ChinzeiAbout “奻 nuán”
In this video, the artist talks about the concepts of the work and shares excerpts of each section.
"奻 nuán" is a contemporary, multi-media work by choreographer and artist Lu Shirley Dai. It integrates the medium of the body, film, textiles and the space. Through the lens of the history, the present and the self, the work analyzes, deconstructs and recreates diverse female personalities and identities. The work consists of three sections, section I “Approaching Venus”, section II “The Everyday and the Divinity of Clothes” and section III “Becoming Nuán”.
Directed & Choreographed by Lu Shirley Dai
Performance by Lu Shirley Dai & Yiyu Lin
Music composed by Kiyoshi ChinzeiSCRY
Director & Cinematographer: Youchen Miao
Choreography Concept & Performer: Lu Shirley Dai
Sound Designer & Composer: Kiyoshi Chinzei
Video Editor: Jinyi Yang
Graphic Design: Des.K Studio
Produced by SCRY
厨房姿态｜In her kitchen (2020)
This work was created and presented during the artist residency at "Guyu Art Festival" in Shenzhen, China.
Choreography, Performance and Film by Lu Shirley DaiPutting My Chineseness and Scraps of Postmodernism in a Contemporary Washing Machine (2019)
Choreographer: Lu Shirley Dai
Performers: Lu Shirley Dai, Nadia Hannan and Marie Zvosec
Music: Circus Band; Video Game Players; 齐豫; SharaX, music edited by William Catanzaro
Lighting Design: Julie Mondrick
Costume Design: Lu Shirley Dai with Amy PageSwimming to the Other Side of the World (SLC, 2018)
Choreography by Lu Shirley Dai
Performance by Nadia Hannan, Lu Shirley Dai, Ingrid Dehler-Seter, N'tifafa Akoko Tete-Rosenthal, Sam Ulrich and Marie Zvosec
Lighting Design by Juli Mondrick
Music: Excerpts of “Fatty Boom Boom” (instrumental) by Die Antwoord, “树是为院子长的” by Xiao He, “卖房子” by 周云蓬, “宽恕” by 树子, edited by William Catanzaro
Costume arranged by Lu Shirley Dai, in consultation with Amy Page
Performance on December 15th, 2018 at Sarah Lawrence CollegeSwimming to the Other Side of the World (2018)
Choreography by Lu Shirley Dai
Performance by Nadia Hannan, Lu Shirley Dai, Ingrid Dehler-Seter, N'tifafa Akoko Tete-Rosenthal, Sam Ulrich and Marie Zvosec
November 8th, 2018 at Access Theatre as part of the Embodied Space II: A Choreography Festival curated and produced by roxy + company.
Becoming __ (2018)
Choreography, Performance and Visual design by Lu Shirley Dai
Music by Xiao He, Edited by William Catanzaro
Lighting Design by Nadia Hannan
Costume by Amy Page
us (Spring 2018)
Choreography and Performance by Lu Shirley Dai and Ingrid Dehler-Seter
Music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Micheal Clark and Sylvan Esso
Lighting design by Marie Zvosec
Costumes design in collaboration with Amy PageCross Pacific Drifting Rose Quartz (2017)
Choreography and Installation by Lu Shirley DaiUN | SEEN’ (2016)
Choreography and Projection design by Lu Shirley Dai
Performance by Juli Brandano, Lu Shirley Dai, Sariel Frankfurter and Leah Samuels
A recent project and performance that takes the conceptual and physical form from the original evening-length work, UN | SEEN, and was presented at Triskelion Arts.A Photographer’s Dance (2016)
A site-specific work that was commissioned by multi-media and image artist Baoyang Chen for his solo exhibition, Framework, at the Cloud Gallery in New York City.
Choreography by Shirley Dai
Performance by Shirley Dai & Debbie Mausner
http://www.baoyangchen.com/Opening-PerformanceArtist's Writing:
While creating this dance, I was thinking from a photographer’s point of view. The
photographer selects a specific frame with its lens, captures the picture by turning the transient
moment into eternity. The photograph therefore presents a cut composition and a still moment.
However, what if we as the viewer can see the things beyond the selected frame? What if we can
revisit the moment of the picture being taken, re-experience what happens before and after?
What if the photograph is a live performance?
In addition, I consider the dancing body as a photographed object, its geometric and
mechanical structure holds a spatial relationship with the frame itself. The corporeal body is a
house, while all limbs and body parts are the furniture within the house, being placed in all kinds
of geometric and linear forms. The dance performs in a camera frame, is restricted by the frame, and goes beyond the frame.
UN | SEEN (2016)
Choreography by Lu Shirley Dai
Performance by Lu Shirley Dai, Juli Brandano, Sophie Dougherty, Sariel Frankfurter, Asami Odate, Debbie Mausner, Leah Samuels
Projection Photography & Video art by Lu Shirley Dai
Original Music by Jeevan Farias
Light Design by Shirley Dai & Jennifer Haley
Video Edition & Production Yunlong Pei
An Evening-length choreography that explores the idea of human bodies in physical, architectural space as well as imaginary space. As dancers, we are sensitive to visual signals not only from the surrounding environments, but also from the corporeal bodies occupying the common space. We respond to these visual signs individually through personal experiences and sensations, and collectively, through shared activities and memories. What we see through vision is transformed and enriched by both consciousness and unconsciousness. In a digital world, the idea of space is further complexed by mediatization, through which our sense of time and space is collapsed. In a way that though we are dancing in a studio, what we see and what we sense is beyond that linear dimension.
Link for the full-length video: https://vimeo.com/197706439The Golden Bull (Summer 2015)
A solo piece at American Dance Festival, Durham.
Choreography and Performance by Shirley Dai.
Sound and text by Shirley Dai, music Fiesta by Moondog.The Two Worlds in-between: It's a dying fantasy we live in (Spring 2015)
Choreography and Visual Projection by Shirley Dai
Performance by Shirley Dai
Music: La Dispute by Yann Tiersen & November by Max Richter; texts inspired by The Tree by Max Richter.
The Solitary Wanderer (2014)
Choreographed by Shirley Dai
Performed by Shirley Dai, Ananda Gonzalez, India Gonzalez, Angela Vettikkal, Lilly Cutrono
Music: Lamentation by Tunde Jegede, Dei Tuoni by Ezio Bosso, Innocent by Femkant
Pilgrimage (2014)
Choreographed & performed by Shirley Dai. (Originally produced as part of "Lamentation Variations" in collaboration with the Martha Graham Center for Contemporary Dance at Barnard/Columbia Dances at Miller Theatre, April 25-26, 2014)