The seventh Hong Kong Jockey Club Contemporary Dance Series, to be staged during the Hong Kong Arts Festival in February and March, will offer some thought provoking performances from cross regional and cross disciplinary collaborations.
© Pazu@萬象鏡社
The Hong Kong Jockey Club Contemporary Dance Series (HKJCCDS) has long been a platform for Hong Kong dancers to showcase their choreographic talents. Entering its seventh year, this edition will take it a step further to spotlight on cross-border inspirations, international collaborations and long-term strategic artistic goals, with featured artists’ experimentation revealing fresh dimensions for contemporary dance.
The series consists of three titles, each of which is an ensemble of pieces created by dancers together with musicians and visual artists. While each dance carries its own vision, the artists also work together for a synergistic whole greater than the sum of its parts.
Works originating from the HKJCCDS have been invited to participate in overseas arts festivals, making it an important platform for local dancers and choreographers to showcase their talents to the world.
Sudhee Liao, one of the featured dancer/choreographers featured in Dance Off, said: “HKJCCDS is a great organisation; the likes of which Hong Kong has too few of. The times I have worked with them have always been positive experiences with teams that were thorough, thoughtful, and resolutely professional in realising creative ideas.”
The Battle Zone│Vortex
This double-bill programme opens up original and exciting visions of dance, with a creative process propelled by international collaboration. Belgian composer and sound artist Peter Lenaerts will collaborate with local choreographers Wayson Poon, Kenny Leung and Yip Chan to create music and sound for their works.
© Cheung Wai Lok
In Vortex, Poon meditates on the varied impact of sound on choreography, while the reflexive energy of the body drives the interaction between the dancer and the audience. The Battle Zone by Leung and Chan brings contemporary dance and street dance together in a thrilling battle, as the collision illuminates new possibilities in dance and life.
© Cheung Wai Lok
Poon, who uses his creative works to explore issues he encounters in daily life, revealed: “In recent years, same sex marriage has become a hot topic in Taiwan and Asia, but this is not what I’m about this time. But rather, I want to challenge the audience’s understanding of love.”
Feb 24 – 25 Studio Theatre, HK Cultural Centre
Dance Exchange
Hailing from different cities across Mainland China, young choreographers Xie Xin, Li Chao, Yang Chang and Zhang Yixiang have engaged in a creative exchange with local choreographers Poon Chun-ho, Yang Hao, Judy Yiu and Ming Pak, sparking artistic connections that transcend borders.
These electrifying ties have become the impetus for the creation of three new dance pieces that highlight the cultural dialogue among the choreographers.
Co-produced with Young Artists Platform of Dance.
Mar 3 – 4 Studio Theatre, HK Cultural Centre
Dance Off
A highlight of the HKJCCDS for years, Dance Off continues to blaze new trails as works from the series have caught the eyes of the international dance community and received invitations from festivals and competitions across the globe.
This year’s showcase, comprising seven dance pieces, sees the return of Tracy Wong, who reflects on the condition of one’s self being filled with pressures from the outside world. Sudhee Liao probes the performer’s relationship with a hyper-real dance space, and Felix Ke examines fear of death by drawing inspiration from Don DeLillo’s novel White Noise. Rex Cheng revamps the physical movements of Chinese opera in a contemporary dance duet, while award-winning street dancer Solong Zhang dances his dream of living as his authentic self.
First-time choreographers Alice Ma and Evains Lui explore the sense of trust amongst city-dwellers and the state of our breathing in everyday life with their respective works.
Cheng, who comes from a mixed dance background including Chinese, contemporary and hip-hop, said: “Together with my partner, [traditional Chinese opera singer Ng Kwok-wa], I’d like to reflect the persistence and struggles we have as Hong Kong people, versus our motherland; and how we can interact to achieve co-existence.”
Mar 22 – 25 Black Box Theatre, Kwai Tsing Theatre