"Alt-Memoir"

 - A New Media Dance Performance

What is it like to be separated from your family for half a century, and carry on yet still imagining the life you would have otherwise lived?  "Alt-Memoir" is an experimental dance performance trying to document a emotional journey of one of millions such victims of the Korean War.

This project is my Thesis Project for my graduate study at the Interactive Telecommunications Program(ITP), Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. It is a collaboration between my friend Yachao Zhu(MFA, Tisch Dance) and I. It was performed on May 26th, 2016 at the Riese Lounge of the school. 

Taking advantage of dance and documentary storytelling, the performance revisited the emotional journey of a man who experienced a 6-decade long separation from his family as a result of the Korean War. The live dance is intended to represent the victim's real life, while the projected choreography represents the alternative -- if the War didn't separate them. So comes the name, "Alt-Memoir".  

The process of making this project is an exploration of how technologies can help merge different forms or artistic expression and augment storytelling. 

Next steps would involve a more elaborate research into the existing performances that also tried to incorporate documentary storytelling. The choreography of both the projection and the live dance are also expected to have more differentiated styles.