A CosmicWander Series
POSTCOLONIAL
SPIRITS
SPIRITS
by Choy Ka Fai
12-15 Aug 2021 @ HAU 1 TanzImAugust, Berlin
Postcolonial Spirits is a telepresence performance inspired by the Indonesia folk dance of . The trance dance ritual from the 1930s draws upon a multi-dimensional history of traditional Javanese dance movement, imitations of partying Colonial
and melodic Islamic poems. Dolalak’s dense heritage opens up a liminal space in which dance transcends beyond the resistance of coloniality, power and
.


Postcolonial Spirits is an experiment with the Indonesia folk dance, Dolalak. Originating from Purworego in Central Java, Dolalak has continuously adapted to pop culture and evolved with social media. Its origin stems from traditional Javanese dance movement mixed with imitations of Colonial Dutch soldiers in cosplay party from the 1930s. The trance ritual is accompanied with songs of local mythologies, political banters and Islamic poems.
Inspired by Dolalak’s multi-dimensional heritage, Postcolonial Spirits creates a tele-presence experiment via live streaming of motion-captured dance from Java to perform on stage in Berlin. Dutch contemporary dance artist Vincent Riebeek and Dolalak folk dancer Andri Kurniawan collaborate virtually, and speculate on the notion of tele-presence dance making for our post-pandemic world.
Featuring Dollar folk dancer Andri Kuniawand, is one of the last remaining male dancers of Dolalak and still transmits the original dance notation from the 1930s. The reality of Dolalak today is dominated by sexy young female influencers who garner million of followers online, dancing to the tunes of the Indonesian pop genre dangdut as their contemporary repertoire. The intriguing ghosts of Indonesia’s colonial past have evolved through both the spiritual and secular realms, and retain a critical affect of enchantment in Dolalak.
Postcolonial Spirits is part of the on-going project CosmicWander by artist Choy Ka Fai, exploring the shamanic dance culture in Asia. Started 2018, he first set out on a 18-month journey across Asia to meet more than 50 spirit mediums in Siberia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia. Ka Fai returns with encounters on altered states of human consciousness and transforms these experiences on stage. He seeks to speculate on the alternative modes of knowing and living, as well as other realms of reality other than our own.
Inspired by Dolalak’s multi-dimensional heritage, Postcolonial Spirits creates a tele-presence experiment via live streaming of motion-captured dance from Java to perform on stage in Berlin. Dutch contemporary dance artist Vincent Riebeek and Dolalak folk dancer Andri Kurniawan collaborate virtually, and speculate on the notion of tele-presence dance making for our post-pandemic world.
Featuring Dollar folk dancer Andri Kuniawand, is one of the last remaining male dancers of Dolalak and still transmits the original dance notation from the 1930s. The reality of Dolalak today is dominated by sexy young female influencers who garner million of followers online, dancing to the tunes of the Indonesian pop genre dangdut as their contemporary repertoire. The intriguing ghosts of Indonesia’s colonial past have evolved through both the spiritual and secular realms, and retain a critical affect of enchantment in Dolalak.
Postcolonial Spirits is part of the on-going project CosmicWander by artist Choy Ka Fai, exploring the shamanic dance culture in Asia. Started 2018, he first set out on a 18-month journey across Asia to meet more than 50 spirit mediums in Siberia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia. Ka Fai returns with encounters on altered states of human consciousness and transforms these experiences on stage. He seeks to speculate on the alternative modes of knowing and living, as well as other realms of reality other than our own.