CHRYSALIS Project Announcement

We are delighted to announce that PhD student Hannah Schneider has been awarded a Humanities Cultural Programme grant for her project CHRYSALIS.

CHRYSALIS is a series of six videos, spanning six countries, that explores the idea that a particular kind of metamorphosis, transformation, and hope is only possible in a place of darkness. Each video is a fusion of the media of classical music, dance, and film, featuring original choreography set to new compositions recorded by the Oxford Alternative Orchestra (OAO). Under the artistic direction of conductor Hannah Schneider, the project comprises award-winning choreographers in Burkina Faso, the U.S., Russia, New Zealand, Korea, and the UK. Through the medium of film, each choreographer explores different interpretations of hope that have been illuminated, and even enhanced, by the darkness of the global pandemic we are all still experiencing. CHRYSALIS: Americas takes an allegorical approach to the theme of ‘chrysalis’, drawing on Aztec rituals of birth and death to explore the idea of emergence from a dark place into something grander and more complete.

Hannah Schneider said: ‘Our aim for CHRYSALIS was to instil hope by finding new forms of artistic collaboration during the pandemic, across borders and oceans; we could not have done that without support, and the Humanities Cultural Programme has made this possible. We are so delighted to be able to bring this vision to life and share it with others’

This project was initiated by Oxford Alternative Orchestra, which is housed in and supported by St John’s College.

You can read more about the CHRYSALIS project by visiting their website.