The Sounds of Chow Gar

Production Blog Part 1

Wow. . . we just did a trial shoot. . . Oh my goodness, this is getting exciting now.

Let’s just post some images straight up – these tell the story better than words. But we’ll give you more detail down the page, in case you haven’t heard about what we’re up to! These pictures are from our trial shoot, and are of members of The Australian School of Kung Fu and Tai Chi. Join our mailing list if you’re interested!

Alanna Sue-Tin (pictured) is a total badass. We’re going to bring you more information about our kung fu performers over the next few months.

Weapons forms are a part of the tradition. Tom wasn’t sure whether to include them at first, but the whole team insisted, so he had to allow it.

Jamal Tan (pictured above) is one of the longest-serving students of the school, with decades of experience.

Branzer Kong (pictured above) has also practiced kung fu for decades, and his highly valued at the school for his technical accuracy.

Sifu Guy Sue-Tin (pictured above) founded the school with his brother Sifu Denis in way back in 1977. The Australian School of Kung Fu and Tai Chi is well respected as one of Brisbane’s best martial arts schools.

OK, here’s what we’re doing, in case you haven’t heard:

We are entering creative development for a new musical production, which we call The Sounds of Chow Gar. Four expert Chow Gar (kung fu) practitioners, from The Australian School of Kung Fu and Tai Chi, will perform traditional Chinese martial forms, which are then set to music for percussion, electronics and string quartet.

Camera operators Tnee Dyer and Vanessa Van Dalsen are capturing these kung fu forms, doing a bit of their own “camera kung fu” with highly dynamic handheld work. The cinematic results, in ultrahigh resolution, will feature the sounds of breathing, heartbeats, and footwork. Innovative, energetic, dance-like music is to be painstakingly composed around the visuals and physiological sounds, with respect to motion and latent timings.

This cross-media audio-visual work will be released online in early 2024. The second phase of the project is live performances. This involves cinematic projection of the kung fu visuals, accompanied by live musicians on-stage, who, with utmost precision, map their timing and performance to the kung fu forms and sounds. Shugorei will again be joined by their friends and frequent collaborators, the Black Square Quartet.

We are hoping to see you at the premiere, and we’ll be bringing you many more updates as this exciting work progresses!

Keep in touch!

This project is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland