Introducing: Akira

At Unbound 3, the latest experimental showcase at London’s Golden Goose Theatre, Ningrui Liu stepped into the spotlight not just as a performer, but as a key conduit for collective improvisation. Appearing as one-third of the Etudes Study Group—alongside collaborators Jo Morrison and Felix X Tigersonic—Liu delivered a visceral, boundary-pushing set that fused voice, movement, and live electronics into a living, breathing composition.

Rooted in the Etudes performance cards by acclaimed sound artist Sharon Gal, the group’s piece was not scripted but summoned: a shared language built through intuitive listening and rehearsed spontaneity. Liu's voice—fluid, raw, and at times fractured—became both anchor and agitation, moving between breathy incantation and eruptive expression. In dialogue with Jo Morrison’s body-led gestures and Tigersonic’s textured electronics, the trio shaped a space where sound was felt as much as heard.

This is not theatre in the traditional sense—it’s composition as communion. Liu’s strength lies in their ability to listen as much as lead, responding with intent, refusing spectacle in favour of presence. It’s a performance that places Liu firmly within the lineage of participatory sonic experimentation, while also carving out space for their own sensibilities: precise, emotive, and searching.

Unbound 3 marked more than just a performance — it solidified Liu’s emergence within London’s underground sound movement. In embracing the unpredictable, they delivered a performance that was both ephemeral and deeply affecting — a moment of shared vibration that lingers long after the sound has faded.

This energy carried forward into their performance with Noisy Women Presents at Konsztrukting Soundz 15, held in the intimate, reverberant Fishermen’s Chapel in Leigh-on-Sea. As part of an evening curated by Levente Dudas (Lev) of N|O|E|W|A Creative Music, Liu presented two original works that pushed the boundaries of form and expectation. A live reconstruction of a torn-up poem unfolded as a raw meditation on rupture and language, followed by a movement-based piece that tested the porous boundaries between silence, gesture, and sound. The work, deeply improvised yet sharply intentional, showcased Liu’s command of transmedia expression — a convergence of text, choreography, and sonic presence. Their collaboration with Noisy Women Presents (recently awarded a Serpentine Gallery fellowship) affirms their growing presence within artist-led experimental infrastructures.

Earlier that year, Liu also appeared at Hundred Years Gallery as part of Spewniverse: Four Small Groups, curated by Gardyloo Spew. Joined by Iris Colomb, Anthony Osbourne, and Spew, their quartet opened the evening with a spontaneous set built on vocal layering, live sound processing, and physical gesture. The performance was both fractured and fluid — a restless, shape-shifting dialogue that resisted containment. For Liu, this was another vital moment in a string of appearances within London’s free music ecosystem, where radical collaboration thrives and boundaries dissolve in real time.

Across these three performances — from the subterranean hum of Unbound 3 to the candlelit echoes of Fishermen’s Chapel and the raw proximity of Hundred Years Gallery — Liu has continued to refine a singular practice rooted in embodied listening and collective invention. Each piece becomes a site-specific ritual: ephemeral, unruly, and alive with possibility.