Pavane from Forest Scenes by MIZU

A pavane is a processional dance, originated in the 16th and 17th century European aristocracy. The Dictionnaire de Trevoux describes the dance as being a "grave kind of dance, borrowed from the Spaniards, wherein the performers make a kind of wheel or tail before each other, like that of a peacock, whence the name." It was usually used by regents to open grand ceremonies and to display their royal attire.

In MIZU’s “Forest Scenes”, the Western connotations of the Pavane are twisted and thrown on themselves, with a cello (a Western classical instrument) used as a percussive body, a seed for digital manipulation, and a melodic chamber for distinctly Eastern harmonies and melodies.

Rhythmically, multiple meters are layered - rather than the traditional duple time of the Western Pavane, 7’s and 2’s and 4’s are overlaid upon one another, to create a cycle of perpetuity. The beginning, a loop of bell-like sounds, is actually a piano sample derived from Schumann’s "Waldszenen", processed to the point beyond recognition by digital musical software.

Forest sounds gradually engulf the protagonist (the cello and their transitory spirit), with a dramatic cutoff that leaves us in multiple dimensions - body, nature, spirit.

MIZU explores themes of transformation and the infinite possibilities of self through her singular cello playing and daring performing.

Trained as a cellist at Juilliard, her experimental practice sees her transforming self-recorded explorations on her instrument into bold and distinct soundscapes.

Portrait by Honglin Cai.

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