A Deep Mice
conceptual performance art by Mark Wong and Emery Petchauer
Music by Emery Petchauer
Movement and recitation by Mark Wong
Story from The Box by Mandy-Suzanne Wong
24 September 2023. Urban Movement Arts, 812 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA, 1 p.m. ET
From the score by Mark Wong and Emery Petchauer
A Deep Mice is a meditation in movement, sound, and story.
[…]
The performers unpack a series of concentric cardboard boxes to reveal a tiny tx-6. As the boxes are unpacked, they frame the dance area…Musician (downstage center) plugs in the tx-6 and begins meditating sonically…not following a typical musical structure…The dancer can interpret or juxtapose the music…
[…]
Dancer explains the context of the performance: what is a deep mice? They invite the audience to join in the mice and set up the text to follow, instructing the audience to let their minds drift and not feel forced to look for meaning/relevance in the story.
Dancer recites text (perhaps an excerpt from a novel, perhaps custom meditative writing).
As dancer recites, musician plays a record.
Dancer dances minimally as they recite, supporting (not juxtaposing) the text with movement.
[…]
The story ends and the performers abruptly return to the mice state, but now the state is slightly changed….