Why? Were their Movements a Song? (2023)

This is a collection of five songs that can be presented in any order during performance. Performers can also choose to present fewer than five songs. There is no preferred order when all five songs are presented.

At the centre of my inspiration for these simple pieces lie convictions and a question. I am convinced that humans have the potential to care deeply about the lived experiences of other animals, and that our planet would have been a paradise by now if all the efforts that have gone over millennia into subjugating other animals had been invested into building shared spaces of caring and understanding. The question: can we train ourselves to empathise with all of their movements in the same way that we learn to experience songs as extensions of our inner worlds?

1. A simple song – gliding and floating (c. 4’20”)
2. Lullaby – gently rocking (c. 2’30”)
3. I have been thinking – spreading out peacefully (c. 4’10”)
4. A story about regrets – balancing and stretching (c. 4’30”)
5. Walking song – dabbing and flicking (c. 3’05”)

Total duration c. 18’45”