Liminal
'Liminal' at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024 featuring erhu musician Chen Xiyao and choreographer Cheng Cheng
The concept for Liminal started at zero degrees longitude, the Royal Greenwich Observatory - the official meeting point of East and West. Drawing on fragmented memories of life before and after conflict, the project explored the human stories of forced migration.
The music of Liu Tianhua was incorporated into the show. Segments of Liu's Ten Great Erhu Pieces were weaved into the storytelling of Liminal.
'Liminal' featuring choreographer Cheng Cheng
The production combined live erhu music, dance, physical theatre, video projection and carefully constucted soundscapes. For many audiences, it was their first encounter with erhu. And for seasoned erhu fans, it was their first encounter with erhu in contemporary theatre.
'Liminal' featuring choreographer Cheng Cheng and erhu musician Chen Xiyao
We also produced a music album, The Top Ten Famous Songs of Liu Tianhua (1892-1932), accompanied by a Primary School Educator's Kit. The goal was to create a multilingual teaching resource to introduce primary school children to the erhu music of Liu Tianhua. It was available in English, Chinese, Spanish and French. The kit contained posters introducing erhu and Liu Tianhua, and each of the ten songs had a corresponding worksheet which featured a short informative text about the song, a vocabulary building exercise, a writing prompt and a creative prompt to help young audiences express their own reponses to new music.
'Liminal' Erhu Music Album and Educator's Kit
We are looking to develop a new production with a UK-based team, with the view to perform at festivals and possibly regional touring. Please contact us if you are interested in joining the cast or would like to partner with us.