Cosmic Egg | An egg rolls into water and cracks

I have often wondered what would happen when the novelty of virtual reality finally wears off. Whether VR would be yet another technological advancement that failed to reach its promised potential.

I remember attending a VR festival a couple years ago and truly believing that I was witnessing something special. VR was supposed to revolutionise how audiences engage with film. It was supposed to make us more empathetic to the stories we see through it because they are ‘much more real’ and closer to us. It was meant to completely change how content is made! The excitement has worn off, at least for me. If McLuhan is right, one would expect that the medium is, in fact, the message and that as the medium alters and adjusts, so will the message. And so perhaps VR hasn’t altered the medium of film significantly enough for it to be considered a different medium – and so the message remains stagnant. Or perhaps one would need to conduct a proper analysis to determine whether VR has significantly altered the pace or pattern of human affairs before making a judgement.

The traditional dance theatre sci-fi musical film, The Cosmic Egg, takes us through an unusual virtual reality journey. Traditional dance merges with the art of oral histories and technology to deliver an immersive and slightly disorienting experience of afro-fiction. Narrated in Setswana by Dr Leloba Molema, the story is that of an ostrich egg hunt that takes its hunters on an unexpected journey from the past to musical futures. I should note here that the futures alluded to in this production can be read as a retrofuturism – based on existing ideas and aesthetics of how we expect the future to look and feel – drawing on notions of the cosmic or the extraterrestrial.

The title of the production seems to be drawing on the mythology surrounding the egg. The cosmic egg is a recurring symbol in different cultures across the world, where the world is believed to be made from fragments of an egg laid by a water bird. The egg rolls into water and cracks – the story goes – and the resulting pieces of it become the earth, the sky, the moon and the stars. The setting is a barren area of land, which conjures up sanctity and the divine.

Through engaging myth and movement, the production destabilises temporal and spatial rhythms that might be anticipated in a linear narrative.

The production is enjoyable and captivating – largely because of its lyricism and allegorical narrative. I have to wonder though what, if anything, the virtual reality aspect adds to this experience.

You can watch The Cosmic Egg here.

Credits:

Music:
Cedric Ncube – Guitar, Musical director
Andrew Chinganga – Flute
Joseph Kahuma- Conga
Queen Botho Garekwe – Time Traveling Egg Blesser – Voice
Tebogo ‘Debbie with a T’ Gaetsewe – Time Traveling Egg Blesser – Voice
Chedza Pilare – Time Traveling Egg Blesser- Voice

Studio recording:
Bakang ‘Baks’ Senekwane- Setinkani – composition
Thabiso ‘Virus’ Tsholofelo – Segaba
Charles ‘Favi’ Motsemme – Keyboard
Cedric Ncube – Guitar

Dance:
Mr Ostrich: Brian Mapii-choreography
Miss Ostrich: Bianca Setumbeko-choreography
Hunter 1: Kagiso “”Checks”” Mochebeswane
Hunter 2: Thabiso “”Virus: Tsholofelo-traditional dance choreography
Hunter 3: Bakang “”Baks”” Senokwane
Village lady 1: Kealeboga Baraedi
Village lady 2: Gofaone Keakantse
Future dancer 1: Mothusi “”Mizzy”” Tikologo
Future dancer 2: Prince Phalalo- choreography
Future dancer 3: Ndumiso Nyoni
Future dancer 4: Ditiro Kapeko

Shmerah Passchier – VR Camera, Offline edit, sound design, make-up
Devan Lowery – Online edit
Skhombuzo Dlomo – Visual effects
Leloba Molema – Voice over script, translation
Onkemetse Kehalotse – Costume
Tricia Sello – Logistics
Moratiwa Molema – Concept, director, artistic director, producer, choreography, costume

Image by Moratiwa Molema