Peripheral Futures

Dance works based on sonification of DNA from HST oak trees and local stories — where non-human memory, human voice, and embodied interpretation meet.

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What this Overlap is about

Peripheral Futures is a long-running dance Overlap within the Highly Sensitive Tree project, bringing together DNA sonification, community storytelling, and embodied choreography.

At its core, the Overlap explores how non-human intelligence (tree DNA), human memory (spoken stories), and the moving body can co-exist within a shared performative space — without one dominating the others.

Each phase invites artists to work with a defined ecological source and a living community around it, translating invisible or peripheral signals into movement, sound, and form.

How it Works

Peripheral Futures unfolds in phases, each centred on a specific tree and its surrounding community.

For each phase:

DNA is sonified from a selection of Highly Sensitive Tree oaks and is provided as a foundational sound score to each participating dance studio.
The studio also invites citizens from their local community to record short personal stories connected to the tree, place, or landscape.
Choreographers create an original work integrating: DNA sonification, recorded storytelling, original choreography and any visual or other sound effects they choose to include.

The resulting works may take the form of live performances, films, installations, or hybrid productions.

Behind-the-scenes content, process notes and observations and final production videos are posted to the Peripheral Futures Overlap.

Creative Commponents

Each Peripheral Futures dance work includes four core elements:

DNA Sonification
A provided sonic translation of oak tree DNA, used as rhythm, texture, or structural score.
Storytelling
Recorded voices from local community members, woven into the performance as narrative, atmosphere, or fragment.
Visual Language
Freely chosen by the studio — projection, light, costume, spatial design, or film.
Dance Choreography
An embodied response integrating the above elements into a coherent movement work.

There is no prescribed style or format.

Open Calls

The Peripheral Futures Overlap is currently open for application from dance studios and choreographers working with embodied practice — approaches where movement is shaped by sensation, listening, and lived experience.

Selected participating studios will be invited to develop choreographic responses to sonified DNA material we'll provide, taken from Highly Sensitive Tree oak trees.

Are you a dance studio interested in joining this collaborative Overlap? Reach out to us and we'll gladly share more details.