The Volcano Trilogy is a multidisciplinary project by Choy Ka Fai that continues his exploration of dance, technology, and human culture. Following the success of his CosmicWander series, which examined the vibrations of the body in dance and trance culture, this new work is inspired by the vibration of the Earth. It begins where the body's heartbeat mirrors the volcano's rumble, establishing a primal resonance between flesh and geology.
Weaving together our relationship with the planet and the cosmological power of dance, The Volcano Trilogy imagines a kind of romantic geology where militancy and mysticism collide. It seeks to decenter anthropocentric narratives and speculate on emerging futures of the Global South. The project is envisioned as a trilogy: cinematic dance films, an immersive exhibition, and a contemporary performance.
Allegory of Ruins
In The Origin of German Tragic Drama, Walter Benjamin explores ruins as a form of allegory. He suggests both involve stripping away the superficial to reveal deeper truths. This project treats ruins as a creative force to disrupt notions of time and history. It proposes a confrontation with a future that is both melancholic and transformative, constructing dialogues attuned to the ghosts of the Anthropocene.
Through this Allegory of Ruins, The Volcano Trilogy investigates the history of Java as a window to understand the world. The concept of ruins manifests in stratifications throughout the island's history. Physical ruins contribute to the cultural production of Indonesia; simultaneously, intellectual ruins are rooted in the evolution of Kejawen, the cultural heritage of the Javanese people. Modern Java is shaped by the ruins of Hinduism and Buddhism, reconfigured by Islamic faith and conditioned by colonial 'reawakening'. This reveals how geology has shaped culture, sculpted by volcanic forces. Java began as molten land formed by these same forces—forces that built the archipelago and made culture possible.
Mountain of Fire
For centuries, Merapi has yielded valuable mineral deposits from the heart of Java. Its soil and stone are excavated as building blocks for growing cities, sustaining the livelihoods of local communities. The study of geology in Java was initially driven by Dutch colonial prospecting for resource exploitation starting in the 1600s. Yet, this scientific methodology could not escape the Javanese tradition of mystic narratives, where earthly stories intertwine with cosmic tales. Known as the Mountain of Fire, Merapi is regarded as both a cosmic and sentient being, housing a spectrum of spirits, presences, and belief systems.
A mountain is not just a mountain; it is a place of endangered human cultures. Here, on the surrounding slopes and valleys of Merapi, a culture of resistance and geo-poetics emerges through the dance tradition of Kubro Siswo (The Great Disciple).
Army of Hauntology
'Kubro' means 'great' and 'Siswo' means 'disciple'—referring to students with deep devotion to God. The music draws from Arabic literary epic traditions, while the lyrics are improvised with evangelistic Muslim teachings (Sholawat). Kubro Siswo opens a liminal space where three aesthetics converge: military precision, Javanese dance, and Islamic song. Its history is layered, tracing back to the 15th-century Wali Songo—nine Islamic missionaries whose preaching songs are still sung today, creating an "army of hauntology" embodied in the dance of the people. Local folklore echoes the story of Prince Diponegoro's resistance soldiers of the Java War (1825–1830); after defeat by the Dutch, these soldiers settled around Merapi and present-day Magelang, now home to Indonesia's largest military academy.The folk practice was later popularized during Suharto's New Order (1966–1998), when military influence was leveraged to shape cultural expression. Through these stratifications, the spirit (Rasa) of the military lingers in the dance's echoes and vibrations.
"Kubro Siswo" serves as my entry point into the realms of militancy and mythical studies. It shapes the trajectory of The Volcano Trilogy, manifesting through notions of ruins, fire, and hauntology to seek relevance and empathy for the human condition.
24 February 2024. On a Full Moon Night. Central Java.
We are heading out to the southern slopes of the Fire Mountain—Merapi. The volcanic eruption began yesterday and continued deep into the night. There is a trance dance ritual tonight in the village of Triharjo, Sleman. The community has gathered to celebrate the start of harvest season.
For a decade, I have researched all around the slopes and contours of Merapi—learning about the indigenous dance culture, observing vernacular folk practices, and tracing the religious amalgamations. Merapi was always there. Merapi is sacred here. Merapi is omnipresent in my imagination of Java.
She was calling me… to be here.
Three hours into the dance ritual, the community of Bayu Mudo performs their own version of Kubro Siswo. Then… as if there were a lunar eclipse, my reality slips into another realm. My first encounter. For all the trance dances I have documented here… it was the first time I could see them… I could sense each and every one of them. Probably too many… must be around 20 of them. From all three levels of Javanese cosmology… as the collective body enters into trance… into the supernatural… I enter a liminal moment.
The Danyang come first, the guardians of this place. Then, there is the army of hauntology, the ghosts of the past… the ghosts of animals, the ghosts of humans, the ghosts of the in-between… specters of living things. They all come to play… some enter the body… some just hang around… some came for food and flowers. At last, the Pepunden arrived, the ancestral saints of the Javanese… of Kejawen, of Knowledge, of Kinship.
I could see each and every one of them. I am inside the zone. I can sense their presence around me. I can only see with my naked eyes… not through the lens of my camera. I am not afraid. I am vibrating together in the zone. I become fluid. I am safe. But I realized… this was a calling. A calling from Merapi.
The Spirit had spoken to me.
"The Culture of Catastrophe comes with cycles of ruptures and recoveries for the people, where sublime resistance emerges from the ruins of time." — Pucangan Cipher (1041 CE), a geomantic manual left by ancient mystics who understood the volcano's consciousness.
Volcanic Bestiary is a series of four cinematic mask dances, created as a form of speculative storytelling blending ideas of romantic geology and the fakelores of the volcanoes. These cyberpunk mythic beasts explore the dramaturgy of ecology and cosmology, seeking liminal spaces in the scientific rendering of the Earth. Each dance metamorphoses to embody the elements: Time and Stone, Water and Metal, Fire and Forest, and Heaven and Earth.
The first Mask Dance is a mythical lion (Singo Sapuangin) with a peacock on its head. Its origin is traced back to the Javanese trance dance ritual of Reog Ponorogo. Singo Sapuangin is a half man half lion creature drawing inspiration from the Hindu deity Bhairava. It signifies a powerful manifestation of protective forces for the villagers living around the volcano. For locals, living with the volcano is simply about knowing when to leave and when to return—to receive nature's gift from the eruption. They call this the Petruk Kantong Bolong philosophy, loosely translated as: "The royal jester has a pocket with a hole; let it pass through, and pick it up later."
The Stone Crusher is an expedition into a liminal space of broken dimensions—a space where spirits are gentrified from their natural habitats. Inspired by studies of extractive human histories and the economy of rare earths, the constellation is composed of immersive moving images, mythical musings, and investigative documentary work.
The expedition begins in the ancient forest near the volcano's crater. To the north lies a plateau of rock formations where common spirits and deities gather. To the south is the spiritual gateway, leading to a realm of the invisible, a palace of kings and high priests who govern the harmony of the cosmos. In these forests, lava has never spread its fire; it always flows east or west. Thus, the forest becomes a secret portal for truth seekers, many who enter never return, seduced by the lure of searching… perhaps for enlightenment and beyond.
The Stone Crusher is an opera for ecology, a dance of romantic geology, and a lamentation of the sacred.
Can the vibration of the people attune to the cosmological power of dance?
Kiri Kanan Kiri (Left Right Left) proposes an urgent need to interface cultural production with ecological and political resilience. As a performance within The Volcano Trilogy, the work is inspired by the vibrations of the earth, weaving together romantic geology, militancy, and mystical studies. Rooted in the heritage of Kubro Siswo—a religious dance tradition created for the spread of Islam—the choreographic flow emerges from the ruins of colonialism, the fire of volcanoes, and the indigenous culture of resistance.
Kiri Kanan Kiri is an invitation to reflect on the humanitarian crisis of our times. In a world fractured by climate change, unnecessary wars, and geopolitical insanity, the performance navigates the politics from left to right, serving as a timely reminder to dance with empathy.