Videographer: Nisa East
What is the inspiration and narrative behind the work:
EVERYTIME WE TOUCH grew out of noticing an unexpected kinship between Bharatanatyam, my ancestral dance, and Dance Dance Revolution footwork, two systems of precise, coded movement built on years of discipline and repetition. It's named after the classic hard-trance Cascada track, nearly impossible to find on machines these days, a powerful track about grief and spiritual transcendence through love. The work uses a DDR arcade machine, dressed as an altar, as a way of putting my Hindu/Tamil ancestral lineage in conversation with my other inheritance: early internet and gaming culture. It's an experiment in ancestral connection through two very different kinds of "ancestors," old technology and ancient dance forms.
What will people experience, watch, see and hear at EVERYTIME WE TOUCH?
I'll be channelling an alter ego, CYB3RKITTY, playing DDR for up to 40 minutes at a time, twice, while being live screened to a huge TV, you can watch from the outside or in, or even join in! Every angle allows a new way to engage with the work. There's an original score by Marcus Whale, dramaturgy by Justin Shoulder, I'm wearing a powerful garment blending techwear and Bharatanatyam elements designed by Kit Wu Bylett, a space covered with insane graphics by May May May, a whole microworld built around the machine. An attempt at devotion. A communion between my ancestors.
What does debuting your work at Parramatta Lanes mean to you?
This is my debut installation commission, and being able to bring something this personal into a genuinely public space, somewhere so parallel to my own childhood feels so important. Growing up, DDR was a portal to somewhere spectacular and surreal, optimistic, and relentlessly high energy. This work re-opens that portal in the heart of Parramatta. The revolution won't be televised, but it's gonna be raved to by a cyberpunk alien. And everyone's invited!!!
