Project Type
Theatre Production. Noble motion dane company/Badie Khaleghian digital media and sound artist.
Project Name
CHANT
Design Criteria
A dance piece about breathing and the origins of voice as a mechanism to create music. The set, by scenic designer Germán Cárdenas-Alaminos for NobleMotion, incorporated mics hung from the grid and in different positions to amplify the breath of the performers, so the goal was to create a series of set pieces that could hide the microphones. I thought of the words: origin, nesting, amplification and rhythm to hide the mics. The idea was to think of vocal chords as a material that could be sculpted, like fabric. Besides hiding the microphones, the choreography also had the use of projection on a white marley floor, the imagery also reacted to the sound, movement and voices of the performers.
Project Description
I designed a light box that symbolized fire (had a area mic hidden)—origin, a group of floating fabric cocoons (made from wire and off white gauze) —nesting, a group of horns (suspended by air craft cable)—amplification and upstage we had a group of stones separated by incremental distances (made out of foam, perforated by air craft cable)—rhythm.
Challenges and Solutions
The challenge came when we had to cue sound, projection and lights, in order to have a cohesive performance of 60 minutes long. We rehearsed the piece in June at Sam Houston State University in June 2026. It premiered in July 2026 at MATCH#2 in Houston, Texas. (Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston)
Photo credit: German Cardenas
Equipment
Our lighting designer, Bryan Ealey, used moving lights and 4 booms for side light, EPSON projector top angle lens.
Team
- Noble motion dance company
- Andy and Dionne Noble, choreographers.
- Badie Khalieghian, composer and multimedia artist.
- German Cardenas, set designer.
- Bryan Ealey, lighting designer.
- Barry Doss, costume designer.