Terpsichore in Silk

I have spent much of my life following Terpsichore, tracing her first through the refinement of Chinese classical dance, then through the discipline and exactitude of ballet, and again through the rebellion and release of modern and postmodern dance. For many years, she seemed to name the path of dance itself. Yet the body I was choreographing exceeded the histories through which I had learned to understand dance. Terpsichore had never quite answered me. Terpsichore in Silk emerges from my practice-led research in somatics and choreography, and from a longer choreographic journey through calligraphy, Chinese shan-shui traditions, materiality, and cultural imagery. It asks: what does a body carry that cannot simply be released? What if we begin not from an empty body awaiting sensation, but from a saturated body—one already dense with embodied memory, discipline, migration, and layered cultural inscription? Credits Choreographer and Performer: Weichen Cui Sound Design: Xiaole Zhan Visual Contribution: Haocheng Zhang Visual Support: Jiawen Feng Production Coordinator: Tom Vulcan Bio Weichen Cui is a choreographer and movement educator currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Melbourne in Naarm/Melbourne. Originally from China, she trained in traditional Chinese dance and martial arts and completed a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy at Fudan University, Shanghai. After moving to Australia in 2015, she began her professional dance training at the Victorian College of the Arts. She later lived and performed in New York, completing an MFA in Dance at NYU Tisch School of the Arts and an MA in Dance Education at NYU Steinhardt in 2022. Her choreographic practice and research are shaped by her cross-cultural training, philosophical background, and ongoing engagement with somatic movement practices. Her practice draws from cultural narratives embedded in bodily memory and accessed through somatic awareness. Her research explores how embodied memory, cultural experience, and somatic attention inform choreography and performance. She is also a Certified Movement Analyst (CMA) through LIMS®, a Registered Somatic Movement Educator/Therapist (RSME/T), a GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® pre-trainer, and a Franklin Method Level 4 educator. Duration This performance will run for approximately 50 minutes. Venue This performance takes place in Studio 221, which is located in the St Kilda Road Performing Arts Building. Please meet Front of House near the ramp on St Kilda Road to be admitted to the performance space.