The Awake 2026

Be immersed in a dance-driven VR journey into the inner world of ALS patients, whose frozen bodies conceal minds and souls burning with resilience.

Directed by Hsieh Hsiao-ting

Vision becomes the primary anchor to reality for patients in the later stages of motor neurone disease – also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. Poetic, abstract dance evokes ALS patients’ rich, heightened consciousness as everyday objects dissolve under the weight of illness: a motionless wheelchair; drifting curtains; a dining table for two; a fish in its bowl.