Join artist Donald Shek for an immersive workshop exploring dance, movement, and the act of being through 3D scanning and AI motion capture.
Reflecting on moments when we take a leap of faith and find connection through dance, this workshop invites participants to explore how our bodies hold memory, rhythm, and emotion, and how these traces can be transformed into digital form.
The workshop forms part of Donald Shek's forthcoming exhibition, Dance With Me, a new project examining how dance has served as a site of connection beyond the barriers of language. Through themes of nostalgia, belonging, and cultural time-loops, the project offers an intimate exploration of diasporic identity and the ways movement carries memory across generations. The exhibition will be presented at Paradise Works, Manchester, in winter 2026.
Participants will be invited to move and dance in response to a specially composed soundtrack while their gestures are recorded on video. Alongside the movement session, they will be invited to share stories of connection and belonging, reflecting on the moments and communities that have shaped them. These recordings will later be processed using AI motion capture technology, transforming individual movements into a collective digital choreography.
Each participant will also take part in a 3D body scan to create a digital avatar – a virtual presence that will form part of the evolving world of Dance With Me. Together, these digital traces explore how movement, memory, and emotion continue to resonate beyond the physical body.
No previous dance experience is required. Participants are encouraged to move in whatever way feels natural and meaningful to them. People of all generations and abilities are warmly welcome.
As Dance With Me explores the role of dance and dance spaces within British East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) communities, we particularly encourage people with ESEA heritage to apply. However, the workshop is open to everyone.
The workshop is free to attend. Refreshments and materials will be provided, a small travel allowance will be reimbursed, and participants will receive a £50 honorarium in recognition of their time and contribution to the project.
Please wear comfortable clothing.
How to participate
Places are limited and will be allocated through a submission process. To register your interest, please complete the Google Form by midday on 7 September 2026. Successful participants will be notified by 9 September 2026. Please Note: applications will be reviewed by Donald Shek and Katrina Man.
All participants will be asked to sign a participation agreement outlining how their contributions — including stories, video recordings, and 3D body scans — may be used as part of the artwork.
Donald Shek is a British-born Chinese multidisciplinary artist and architect whose practice explores cultural hybridity, identity, and belonging through moving image, immersive technologies, performance, and digital storytelling. Drawing on the concept of the 'third space', he examines how memory, place, and cultural identity are shaped through the coexistence of multiple histories and perspectives.
His work often combines augmented reality, virtual environments, and participatory experiences to investigate how realities are constructed and perceived. In 2019, he created Augmented Chinatown, a site-specific augmented reality commission for Kakilang Festival that reimagined London's Chinatown through digital intervention. Following a residency at ESEA Contemporary, he developed Augmented Chinatown 2.0 (2021), expanding the project through interdisciplinary collaboration and immersive storytelling.
Donald was also co-conceiver and lead 3D world builder of Home X, an experimental theatre production commissioned by the British Council Hong Kong. Combining live performance, game technologies, and virtual reality, the production toured nationally in 2023 and was nominated for the UK Theatre Awards Digital Innovation Award.
His current practice explores the intersections of technology, cultural memory, and lived experience, creating immersive spaces where personal narratives and collective histories converge.
Katrina Man is a curator and community producer whose practice centres on participation, collaboration, and equitable approaches to contemporary art. Working across exhibitions, public programmes, and community-led projects, she has developed initiatives with organisations including Kakilang, the Mayor of London, Sculpture in the City, and The Hepworth Wakefield.
Drawing on her experiences as a mixed-race British Chinese curator, Katrina's work explores inclusive models of cultural production that create opportunities for diverse communities to engage with and shape the arts.
She is Associate Curator and Community Producer for Donald Shek's Dance With Me exhibition project, supporting its curatorial development and public programme.