27.11.2010
HKAPA
Convergence
is a collage composed by 8 different choreographers from 6 various
countries. They collaborated to share their philosophies with the
audience and bring the compact to the culture. It consists of six
extracts which are not related in term of storyline but they are
closely related in terms of the subject matter – Culture
Convergence.
It
started with “On second Thoughts”, which is choreographed and
performed by John UTANS and JIA Dong Lin. They come from different
backgrounds, but they shared the same belief – idea of time, memory
and journey. They use time to reveal time by exploring their pasts.
The theme is emphasized by various elements, projection of some
memory fragments, lighting tone, movements and the props. The use of
yellowish lighting is worth complimented as it strengthened sense of
the past. It worked with the contrast in dynamics to suggest the
youth and old. Besides, the moment when they traveled backward
diagonally together may imply revisiting their memories together and
sharing the same belief. Towards the end of this dance, it was
highlighted by the poem presented by JIA. The words were not the
spotlight, but the sound effect created was. It nourished the
audience with the sense of sorrowful beauty.
Then
it was followed by a solo, “to be or not to be” extracted from
“Endorphin” by WU Chun Hsien. This solo is about facing the
struggles and hesitations while pursuing the happiness and this was
performed by Photini Meletiadis from Company Double C. The idea of
happiness is highlighted by the colorful long dress all the way in
the dance. In this extract, the solo was performed on a bare stage
with yellowish light tone. The dancer touched the audience with her
face and struggling gestures which helped the lots understand the
whole picture pretty much.
The
third dance is a pure personal work choreographed and performed by
SONG Nan. It bascially depicted the the living scenes of a day in
Poland from dawn to night abstractly. Song played with the lighting
to reflect the timing, like dim yellow lighting tone could suggest
the dawn. Plus, he picked the polish music and some polish dance
features to highlight the polish culture. For instance, the
repetitive dance steps, folk dance features and acceleration in music
as well as the movements. Those elements worked together to express
the lighthearted emotion during his traveling. In contrast, the use
of Chinese character projection could imply choreographer's
interpretation of Polish people and culture. I have to admit it might
not be a wise choice if he intended to deliver his theory to the
audience through the words. Because there were quite a few
non-chinese audience who would not be able to understand the meaning
in this way. However, the overall stage effect was rather impressive.
Just
before the break, 27 scenes was presented. It was the most absorbing
and exciting piece in the entire night. The performance by three
dancers were extraordinary and highly appreciated. They demonstrated
the little insanity and disorders within human being exceptionally
well. The choreographers have achieved the sense of madness by mixing
all sorts of elements on the stage. Everything was controlly out of
control. It is rather dangerous to put too much things on the stage
as it can easily go wrong and make it too confusing for the audience
and finally fail to deliver the core message. Amazingly, there were
no awkwardness nor focus problem. The whole thing just worked! The
most impressive part is that when three dancers were packed together
with somebody else's hand covered, they they started to sing and walk
in a circle to create mad world, everything is distorted and lost in
their own way. The physical setting and use of vocal reminded me of
“Strange Fish” by DV8 Physical Theatre at first as they both
worked on a similar subject matter- Insanity. However, 27 scenes is a
masterpiece in terms of aesthetics and intrinsics.
After
the intermission, it's followed by Farewell, my concubine!-The
movement of Martyr, choreographed by LEE Swee Seng. It is a classic
tale which displays the intricate affection between Kiang Yu and Yu
Ji, his concubine. The couple chose to end their lives in a
magnificent but tragic way to signify their intense devotion to each
other and their land. The extract piece has strong Martial Art
influence which is highly encouraged as it fulfilled the idea of
“Contemporary Dance” - AT the time of the Place. Frequently, the
local modern dance works have considerably strong American or English
influences. The Hong Kong choreographers seemed to be struggling to
establish our own style. Until recent years, the appearance of
Chinese dance gestures in modern dance work marked the breakthrough
in establishing our own distinctive style. In this work, it is
clearly two male dancers have been under strict and decent training
both in Martial Art and contemporary dance. Their techniques were
absolutely superb and splendid that they expressed the passion
perfectly. I was extremely impressed by their strength, the sounds
they made with their swords plucked my heart and I have no doubts
with their effort on Martial Art and Dance. They could not be more
appropriate choices for this choreography.
The
last scene is Galatea and Pygmalion choreographed by WONG Tan Ki and
LI Sze Yeung Justyne. First of all, I was attracted by the storyline,
wonderful but sorrowful. The story is about a love between a human
and an undying sculpture. So...mortal or immortal? This question is
accented by the use of Philip Glass' music which is minimalistic and
repetitive. The music power made the movements looped in my minds for
days and I have to confess how much I have enlightened by this work
which led me to understand the actual meaning of being alive and how
to enjoy our only-once-life. We will never be alone as long as we
still in flesh and blood, but we will find everything tasteless when
our lives become infinite. The story made me realize how unwise it is
to pursue eternity.
