ECHO IN THE DARK (2022)
Directed by: Hanna Tuulikki
Choreography by: Will Dickie
Performed by: Romany Dear
Music devised and performed by: Tommy Perman
Lighting design: Jack Wrigley
Presented at: HospitalFeilds, Arbroath, Scotland 2022
Echo in the Dark is a major new collaborative music and performance project by artist, musician and vocalist Hanna Tuulikki that explores the interconnections of raving and bat echolocating as a model for ecological coexistence. To compose the music, Tuulikki has worked collaboratively with artist and music producer Tommy Perman.
In the Echo in the Dark ‘silent raves’ Tuulikki and Perman will DJ their new set of dance music tracks, inspired by and featuring bat echo-location sounds collected with communities in Arbroath, Angus, and across the UK through the Echo Location library.
Since 2020, Hospitalfield, Hanna Tuulikki and Dr David Martin of Tayside Bat Group have been working with communities in Arbroath and Angus to collect the sounds of bats local to the UK including Soprano Pipistrelles, Common Pipistrelles, Daubenton’s bats and Brown Long Eared bats for the Echo Location Library.
The beats and melodies of the music are made entirely from recordings of bat echolocation calls, including those gathered by Scottish communities in Angus, fused with the sounds of Tuulikki’s voice. Prior to the silent raves, two tracks from Echo in the Dark will be released on 28 July as a new 7″ lathe-cut vinyl EP and digital download with record label Blackford Hill.
The raves include choreography from movement director Will Dickie with a cast of dancers based in Scotland and the music features a special guest appearance from renowned philosopher Timothy Morton who has written extensively about ecological awareness.