Digital Embodiment — Exploring Somatic Movement and Digital Identity

T.H.E Dance Company is no stranger to multidisciplinary works. With past creations like Infinitely Closer and PheNoumenon 360 VR Immersive Experience, the company continues to push the boundaries between dance and technology. As part of an upcoming new creation, we are excited to welcome our latest collaborator, Zelia ZZ Tan — a bold Asian multimedia artist, choreographer, and researcher working at the forefront of embodied media and hybrid performance.

In this two-hour interactive workshop, Zelia brings together somatic practice, digital identity, and immersive tech to explore what it means to move and be seen in virtual space.

Participants will:

• Start with a voluntary somatic warm-up, using spiralling motion and tactile awareness to ground the body. Movement participation is optional — observation is welcome in this inclusive space.

• Learn about Zelia’s interdisciplinary creative approach, which blends choreography, media art, and virtual identity (虛擬的身份).

• Interact directly with a novel sensorless motion capture system, a technology not yet widely explored in Singapore, enabling participants to embody and animate digital avatars in real time — without wearing physical sensors.

• View a project showcase featuring Zelia’s current research and development, highlighting the creative potential of body-data interfaces.

• Wrap up with a Q&A and open dialogue, encouraging cross-disciplinary exchange and reflection.

Open to new media students, dancers, technologists, choreographers, and interdisciplinary artists, this workshop invites you to step into the space between physical and virtual, and imagine new forms of embodied expression. No dance experience is necessary — just curiosity and a willingness to engage.

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Photo 1: REfract, taken by Eric Hong, courtesy of WestK.