Concept
Rain Rite reimagines Nuoxi — an ancient Zhou-dynasty ritual (11th century BC) in which masked priests performed exorcisms through song and dance to communicate with ancestors and gods, praying to ward off disasters and welcome renewal. The piece asks: how do we translate that ancient ritual into a modern, interactive performance — technology as participation, not spectacle?
Visual Language
The projected landscape draws from two visual references — rich gradient skies and Chinese water-ink mountains — composed as a narrative field that reacts to the ritual's emotional arc.
Music Design
Erhu and Dongxiao open the piece in stillness and mystery. As tension builds, Suona and Chinese drums echo thunder and tremble the earth — the clash between human will and the forces of nature. Finally the Erhu returns, carrying rebirth and concluding the ritual in serenity.
Translate Dance to Digital
Motion capture and cloth simulation translate the dancer's body into a digital echo — a second presence projected back into the stage.
Interaction Design
Sound and movement drive the visual field in real time — dancer, instrument, and projection share a single feedback loop.
Stage Design
Three concentric zones: the back carries the narrative landscape, the center holds the communal instrument, and the front is the embodied ritual.
Pipeline
A microphone over the drum captures the live percussion; Unity drives audio-reactive visuals from that signal alongside lighting cues from the Godox controller. MadMapper splits the composited frame across two projectors — a high-lumen unit for the back wall narrative landscape, a short-throw for the foreground transparent projection that wraps the dancer.
Workshop
Public workshop at CICA Museum inviting visitors to participate in the ritual.
