Live Remix

Pick a card from a shuffled deck. This is how we remix live. Play. 

Using live improvisation and chance, erhu musicians interact with dancer and audience. A unique remix is created in the moment. 

The song is 《烛影摇红》Candle Shadow Flickers Red (1932) by erhu pioneer 刘天华 Liu Tian Hua.  

刘天华 Liu Tian Hua (1895-1932)

Candle Shadow Flickers Red is a mix of Western compositional techniques and traditional Chinese musical elements. It is considered one of the essential classics in the erhu repertoire. This early East-West fusion erhu song resonated with Vi's British Chinese identity and was selected to be remixed live for and by new audiences.

First trial of erhu remixing with Haylin Cai, 2023

The first trials of an erhu experiment took place at a writing retreat organised by PAN Shanghai. Director & performer Haylin Cai provided chance and improvisation elelments while Vi played erhu.

First experiments with erhu musician Gong Qingyi and choreographer Jinglin Liu, 2023 

First experiments with specially printed deck of playing cards and projector slides. Erhu musican Gong Qingyi shuffled the cards, the slides were loaded into the projector following the shuffled sequence. Choreographer Jinglin Liu improvised with the music and space. As the experiments progressed, the challenge evolved as the erhu musican built a deeper connection with the dancer. Drawing on the dance practice of a 'listening body' from contact improvisation, the traditionally trained erhu musician was able to experience a different form of performance relationship.

Erhu musician Chen Xiyao with audiences at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024

The erhu remix experiments engaged audiences at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024. In the post-show experiment, audience members picked cards at random and presented it to the erhu musician Chen Xiyao. Participants controlled the timing of each bar, with some standing at length to savour the erhu performance. 

© 2026 Erhu Remix Project