PGVIS Call for Performance

The White Monkey Captures a Mermaid

Associate Professor Saksri Vongtaradon 

Silpakorn University, Thailand

PROGRAM

• The White Monkey Captures a Mermaid — Saksri Vongtaradon

The White Monkey Captures a Mermaid is a contemporary performance work for two dancers, film, and live electronics. The piece reinterprets the episode of Hanuman and Suphannamatcha from the Thai epic Ramakien, shifting the traditional narrative of pursuit, encounter, and desire into a contemporary ecological context. In this reinterpretation, the mythic underwater world becomes a damaged marine environment shaped by pollution, human activity, and the destruction of water resources. The work uses two dancers to represent Hanuman and Suphannamatcha, while their movements function not only as choreography but also as a live control system for sound and image. A camera captures the positions of the dancers’ hands and faces, converting their movement into horizontal and vertical coordinate data. These data are mapped in VDMX to control real-time video effects and are transmitted through OSC to Pure Data, where they manipulate pre-recorded sounds of the sea, wind, waves, underwater noise, boats, and human activity. Through this system, the dancers become active generators of the audio-visual environment. The composition is structured in six sections, moving from the construction of the stone bridge and Hanuman’s descent into the ocean to his encounter with Suphannamatcha, the chase between duty and desire, and the final revelation of a wounded sea. Digital effects such as color distortion, convergence, image delay, channel displacement, and video degradation are paired with sound processes including filtering, ring modulation, clipping, wave folding, reverb, and amplitude modulation. These transformations create a sonic and visual metaphor for polluted water, technological disturbance, and ecological instability. By combining Thai literary heritage, contemporary dance, interactive media, and electroacoustic composition, The White Monkey Captures a Mermaid proposes a performance model in which myth becomes a vehicle for environmental reflection and the dancers’ bodies become instruments for shaping sound, image, and meaning in real time.

PERFORMERS

Saksri Vongtaradon (Composer / Live Electronics)

Krid prarom (Hanuman)

Karnthira Chamchoi (Suphannamatcha)

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Alma Y Pasión (Soul and Passion)

Lalita Bay Jantaro

Independent Performer , Thailand

Usa Napawan

School of Music, Princess Galyani Vadhana Institute of Music, Thailand

PROGRAM

• Córdoba, from Chants d’Espagne, Op. 232 — Isaac Albéniz

• Asturias, from Chants d’Espagne, Op. 232 — Isaac Albéniz

Danza Estilizada is a style of Spanish dance that blends traditional Spanish dance with classical ballet technique showing elegance while maintaining strong distinctive Spanish movements, footwork, arm positions, and musicality. For this performance "Alma Y Pasión" (Soul and Passion) , we would like to present "Danza Estilizada" through Isaac Albéniz' Cordoba and Asturias (from Chants d'Espagne op.232) choreograhed and solo dance by Lalita Bay Jantaro and piano by Usa Napawan. We hope the audience will experience the beauty of Spanish soul through dance and music combined.

PERFORMERS

Lalita Bay Jantaro (Dancer)

Usa Napawan (Piano)