Filling the Shell
Audrey Chou
Advisor: Kari Love
Filling the shell is an interactive and immersive performance, expressing the unspoken narrative from living ghost of the past, transcending to the future to find her missing heart and loosing pieces of the self through out the journey.

Project Description
I am continually questioning what performance is—and how it is evaluated, created, and shaped within systems of power that define which aesthetics are deemed worthy of recognition. My inquiry draws from immersive theatre, acting, world-building, and both post-structuralist and utopian ideologies, while also engaging with post-colonial perspectives on how performance is constructed in contemporary society.
During my time at ITP, I explored both sensor-based and non-sensor-based approaches to creating interactive dance and performance. Through this process, I observed that bodies are often positioned, restructured, and expected to interact with technology in ways that are neither respectful of, nor aligned with, a dancer’s natural movement. Many of these systems adopt a technology-first approach, overlooking the dancer’s identity, physicality, and expressive potential as they are reinterpreted in digital space.
This tension leads me to a central question: how can we incorporate interactivity without compromising the expressive integrity of the dancer? How might technology support, rather than constrain, embodied expression?
Alongside these technical inquiries, my work also explores narratives of expression rooted in alienation—experiences shaped by migration, diasporic identity, and cultural loss. This extends into a broader investigation of collective memory, trauma, and post-colonial aesthetics, as well as the institutional power structures that shape the production and reception of performance.
Filling the Shell is an ongoing process of research, rehearsal, and creation. Through experimentation with emerging technologies, the project challenges conventional techno-choreographic frameworks and posthuman narratives, while envisioning new possibilities for movement, collaboration, and embodied presence.

Technical Details
Software: Ableton Live, Max/Msp, QLC+, MadMapper, Syphoner.
Hardware: DMX in the Black Box, 16MM Bolex Film, Props, Arduino
Research/Context
In this project, I worked with audio-visual and interactive light systems with performance, as well as research in formats of games for audience participation in a theatre show format.
The project is a long-term process of experimenting with mixed medium formats of making choreographic and interactive participatory theatre works with branching narratives.