Composer & Choreographer: SUGAR VENDIL
Director: MEI ANN TEO
Lighting Designer: HAO BAI
Costume Designer: HARRIET JUNG

Run time: 50 minutes

sugar vendil/isogram

ANNIE NIKUNEN
CINDY LAN
MARIE LLOYD PASPE
SUGAR VENDIL
ANNIE WANG

collaborators & performers

Antonym: the opposite of nostalgia

World Premiere: Jan 6-7, 2026 at OUT Front! Fest, Judson Memorial Church

Antonym: the opposite of nostalgia is a memoir of a Filipinx American childhood that interweaves chamber music, dance, and nonlinear theater in an interdisciplinary performance. Excavating seemingly insignificant but deeply ingrained memories, Antonym envisions the future as an escape from pain and ponders how we can possess painful memories without being beholden to them. Using field recordings of New York City to create a rich sonic landscape, the four seasons serve as a cyclical frame and context for memory. "Antonym" invites audiences to reflect on their own relationships with memory, identity, and imagining their own futures.

Out-FRONT! Fest. A Festival curated by Pioneers Go East Collective and presented in partnership with Judson Memorial Church.

The Out-FRONT! Festival is curated by Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte, Remi Harris Philip Treviño, and Joyce Isabelle. The Festival features award-winning artists who enlighten, entertain and promote conversations around aesthetic diversity and personal journeys on the intersection of mutual ideas, cultures, and meanings. Presented with collaboration and support from Pink Fang (pinkfang.org/ @pinkfangnyc)

Cover photo by STEVEN PISANO

Test Site 4 (2019)
Performance piece
I. Now
II. then
III. Then

Created and performed by Sugar Vendil and Jing Yu
Music by Sugar Vendil, sampling Don't Speak by No Doubt in II. then
Sashes from Jing Yu's Fait Accompli (2012)
Video art by Jing Yu
Supported by Target Margin's Artist Residency Program

Test Site 4 was part of my creative process for a larger work that explores the opposite of nostalgia. Created during a 2-week residency at Target Margin Theater, my friend Jing Yu and I created a work that distilled the present, past, and future (in that order) in a performance piece incorporating sound, movement, and video art.

ISLANDER (work in progress) is a music and movement suite scored for various keyboards, kulintang instruments (indigenous Philippine gongs), and electronics. From the lens of a second generation Filipino American, the work examines the residue colonialism has left behind through centuries and generations, and explores the tension that exists within one’s identity. Additional electronics by Trevor Gureckis. Performed by Vendil and collaborators: pianists Melinda Faylor and Mary Prescott, and weaver Cynthia Alberto of Weaving Hand. Cage piece in this video by Heather Huey. Longer video can be found here.

Test Site 2: Study Within Sculptures (2016)
Directed and Edited by Sugar Vendil
Composed by Trevor Gureckis, Hajnal Pivnick & Sugar Vendil
Performers: Hajnal Pivnick, violin; Sugar Vendil, performer
Sculptures: Sonambient Sculptures by Harry Bertoia
Costumes by Atelier de Geste
Special thanks to Museum of Arts and Design (MAD)
Recorded at MAD's exhibition, "Atmosphere for Enjoyment: Harry Bertoia’s Environment for Sound"

We went in with a single 12-tone melody composed by Trevor and planned as we went along. I edited an hour of footage into this video, assembling clips of what we had recorded according to what made sense sonically. 

Test Site 1: In)Habit (2016)
Created in collaboration by Coco Karol and Sugar Vendil
Music: Trevor Gureckis
Choreographer: Coco Karol

A project that began with my stay at the A-Z West wagon station encampment in Joshua Tree, CA, “Test Site” is an experiment in process, revolving around the body, nature, urban life, and obligation (in this case, the piano), drawing connections as well as acknowledging the tension between these elements. I created movement in collaboration with choreographer Coco Karol and will improvise sparse notes on top of an electronic track by composer Trevor Gureckis. The video is comprised shots of the desert and city that I display from a handheld projector, which I carry with me in various parts of the performance. 

Sacred-Profane (2015), a theatrical concert featuring Sororatorio: a Cuntata, a song cycle by Vincent Calianno, music by Marina Kifferstein, Johannes Ockeghem, Sarah Kirkland Snyder, and Nina C. Young. Fashion by NOT. Performed by The Nouveau Classical Project.
Role: Director, Pianist, Producer
Premiere: April 9, 2015

Potential Energies (2014), a ballet for musicians and dancers. Music by Trevor Gureckis, Choreography by Barbie Diewald, Costumes by Atelier de Geste. Performed by The Nouveau Classical Project and TrioDance Collective.
Role: Director, Pianist, Producer
Premiere: May 29, 2014

Sweet Lost Pierrot (2012), a multimedia concert. Music by Trevor Gureckis, David Lang, and Arnold Schoenberg. Video projection and set design by Caroline Pham. Fashion by Gemma Khang, styled by Zon Chu. Performed by The Nouveau Classical Project.
Role: Director, Pianist, Producer
Premiere: December 7, 2012