The Rest was premiered in Jockey Club Dance Well Project Finale Presentation 𝘿𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙠 was held at The Hong Kong Jockey Club Amphitheater at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts on 15 & 16 March 2025.

The Rest provides a space for both the audience and the dancers to engage in a gentle dialogue with the scenery in a dimension between stillness and movement, allowing them to experience each moment with mindfulness. The audience is even invited to step into the dancers’ bodies and imagine that each scene unfolds under various conditions and limitations — could there be another kind of understanding?

The Rest

“In music, a ‘rest’ signifies the silent sections on the score, marking moments of pause or cessation. This work is rooted in crawling, sitting, standing, and walking, where the human body transforms into a landscape, exploring the “rests” within the dynamic and static realms of the theatre. We engage with the poetic body that encapsulates descriptive memories and varied energies through silence, breath, and emptiness.”

Photo (c) Thomson Ho

Choreographer’s Note:

In my creative process, I believe the phrase “To let go means to have more” perfectly describes my experience.

By letting go of “preconceptions”, I immersed myself in the dancers’ energy and wisdom in the rehearsal room. By releasing the “authority of choreographer”, I created more space to listen to the unique ideas of each individual involved in the creation. Letting go of “my ego”, I returned to the shared emotions and collaborative building of the work.

Over the past six months, we have all transformed, recognised, and understood elements of dance that we can share in this work. I remember a veteran artist mentioning, “Some works are about issues, and some works are about feelings.”I boldly hypothesise that perhaps this work is neither of those; it is about a kind of “landscape”. In nature, a landscape has neither feelings nor problems. Using this hypothesis, let us appreciate, with the purest of hearts, what the dancers have constructed…

Photo (c) @Worldwide Dancer Project

Choreographer: Wayson Poon

Performers: Anna Chan, Connie Cheung, Miu Miu Cheung, Susanna Ching, Panda Chow, Lilian Choy, Larra Chung, Lai Kit Fong, Duncan Lam, Brandon Lau, Lau Yuk Lin, Hedy Law, Jojo Lee, Pauline Lee, Dorothy Leung, May Leung, Sinnie Leung, Sylvia Leung, Terrance Lo, Mak Chui Fun, Florence Ng, Pang Chi Man, Ming Tam, Sam Sam Tang, Asca Wong, Connie Wong, Milan Wong, Sandy Wong, Miranda Wu, Rebecca Yeung

Rehearsal Master: Kingsan Lo

Rehearsal Assistant: Ching Chu

Music Designer: Kong Chan

Lighting Designer: Au Yeung Hon Ki

**The Rest Performance Video (00:00 – 16:50)

A Movement Score for the Dancers that follows the structure of a Chinese poem: