Category FIVE: Immersive Dance Experience
Embedded Files
Cat5_1.mp4project blending dance, quest, storytelling, and extended reality elements. Audience steps into the heart of the hurricane, explores its impact on the inner psyche and seeks the way to heal after facing life's adversity. Held at the world-class Media and Immersive eXperience (MiX) Center in Mesa, this walk-through experience offers multi-sensory exploration of the power of nature, mind, body and ‘beyond’. Here is an excerpt from the section where participants observe the rescuers’ struggle from above, and then descend to reconnect with the survivors.
Artistic Directors: Dean Saifullin & Isabella Lepp
Choreography: Dean and Isabella in collaboration with performers.
Music: various sounds (credit to Tin Hat Trio “Pablo Looks Back”, Jane “It’s a Fine Day”); Yesil Tabela by Berzan Yalcin
Lighting Designer: Carolyn Koch
Costume Designer: Cari Smith
Media Designer: Dean Saifullin
Props & Scenery: Adam Sanders, Britney Simington
Performers: Kayleigh Berman, Maia Castelli, Lola Escalara, Maddy Freeman, Kyla Kabat, Monique Kelley, Maddie Lasco, El Padilla, Alex Solano, Cami Tenorio, Kylie Wright
From Idea to Realization:
We created this work specifically for the MIX Center as a site-responsive performance. A 360-degree projection surrounded the audience, transforming the space scene by scene—from the comfort of a living room wall to the overwhelming force of a tornado. To continue the journey, the audience had to climb upstairs and witness the storm from above, looking directly into its eye. Following the disaster, performers and viewers came together in an embodied act of recovery, where rescuers and survivors shared their lived experiences.
This structure was designed to guide the audience through a simulated experience of a hurricane, engaging multiple senses and physical actions to enhance immersion and emotional impact. The goal was to challenge participants to move beyond cognitive boundaries and listen to the “wisdom” of the body, allow them to witness the power of nature, explore their own mind-body responses to triggering audio-visual content, and realize the power of “beyond” through final performance and meditative process.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse