Rebounding is a collaborative performance created by Pei-Ling Ho and Shannon Stovall in the summer of 2018. It brings together two women from two separate cultures and life experiences to speak on personal and constructed ideas of family, memory, intimacy, gender and power.
In part one, we collectively remember uncomfortable and tender moments from our childhood that are associated with the objects we are interacting with in the room. Many of these memories are recounted feelings of vulnerability, loneliness and an exploration of the body. We are trying to build a connection with domestic and psychological interiors as well as a relationship with the audience.
In part two, after Pei-Ling reads the bedtime story from when she was a kid, Shannon appears as a 1980’s aerobics instructor based on her mother’s career as a cop and a fitness competitor. The piece becomes more open, energetic, and interactive as she asks them to stretch and move with her.
The last part of this performance represents the endless struggle of being forced to come face to face with forces that oppress us. Additionally, it represents the structure and dynamic that this oppression can create between fellow women, and the resulting psychological impact that is generated.
photo credit: Youi Shih