"Hong Kong Cool" (HK Ballet x West Kowloon x HK Art School) Review
16 Sep 2018 | Ashley
I have always been a fan of dance, bodily expression in general. In fact, I believe it is my most natural way of expression. Although I am more of a spontaneous "body mover", ballet is usually a very tempting choice when it comes to appreciation since there is a certain strictness in movement that I do not think I can personally master. Each time, I feel an inexplicable pleasure watching professional ballet dancers kill it. It is a sort of cathartic feeling watching a human body bloom and evolve and be one with the rhythm of the external world. It is at that moment that they and I breathe as one.
Despite all stereotypes of ballet being traditional, emotionally and physically restrictive, "Hong Kong Cool", an artistic project where Hong Kong Ballet, West Kowloon Cultural District and Hong Kong Art School collaborated, has proved ballet a possibility to be otherwise. It is the second time that West Kowloon and Hong Kong Ballet have teamed up. This year's project brought together choreographers, independent composers, technical designers and visual artists. They explored and experimented with the possibilities of multi-faceted showcase. I saw the show at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre on 13 Sept 2018. There were 7 different pieces of dance. Each lasted approximately 10 minutes. Generally, I find the whole performance refreshing. Its negation of the definite boundaries dividing fields of arts is a daring ideology put into practice, and yet inevitably natural.
The first piece is named "Wordless Letter", choreographed by Yuh Egami, music designed and improvised by Mike Yip, digital visuals designed by James Kong, and danced by Chen Zhiyao and Forrest Rain Oliveros. What stood out to me about this piece is the absolute synchronization of the digital words on screen and the dancers' movements. What they used to achieve that effect is a technology called Perception Neuron, which allows wearers of sensors to project their movements digitally on screen. We saw dancers wearing some sort of gear that glowed as it sensed movement. It was an interesting combination to see, one that expresses the essential urgency of the body and an immediate reaction of the digital age to which we all learn to adapt. Quoting from British author, Virginia Woolf's suicide note to her husband, we saw depressing sentences forming on screen in a distorted manner, as if these words embodied a massive burden of emotions, which became more important than the identity of the speaker. These dancers embodied also the same emotional weight, thus become one with the words projected, instead of distinctive speakers. This opening piece was one that marked a change for what we should expect of this program.
Jumping to the last piece, "When You See", choreographed by Hu Song Wei Ricky, music and live guitar accompaniment by Olivier Cong, cello by Harmony Chuh, clarinet by Peggy Lai, set design by Shiu Wan Man, and danced by Luis Cabrera on 13 Sept. I find this piece extremely atmospheric. A spotlight first shone on the balcony just beside the stage at musician Olivier Cong with his guitar. Then lights were off, what we saw next was a glowing sphere of yellow light on stage, like a moon, and very obscurely someone holding it, moving with it. I appreciate the gesture of them first showing the live musician, who played an important role in setting the tone for this piece. Cong used his guitar and vocals to create very monotonous sounds, yet managed to make them sound like desperation for the pursuit of hope. I was captured by the movement of the "moon" throughout the piece. At some point, I thought it was hanging by itself in the air. I would say that there is a certain fantasy to this object, which visualizes a kind of sadness and desire for the better. Fun fact, I went to a meet-the-artist session on 15 Sept 2018, where I got to hear Hu and Cong talk about their process of collaboration. It was a joy to know that they felt, jokingly, like "a match made in heaven". From the beginning when they were picking out partners as choreographer and composer, they both had similar concepts, thus could easily exercise their artistic visions at each other's pace.
I look forward to seeing more of HK Ballet's productions since I see the potential of these dancers and choreographers who, in a way, showed the audience a breakthrough of what they could do. I also am excited about future collaborative projects such as this one, which I think provides an amazing platform for artists of all kinds to join hands and rejoice possibilities of fluidity.
I have always been a fan of dance, bodily expression in general. In fact, I believe it is my most natural way of expression. Although I am more of a spontaneous "body mover", ballet is usually a very tempting choice when it comes to appreciation since there is a certain strictness in movement that I do not think I can personally master. Each time, I feel an inexplicable pleasure watching professional ballet dancers kill it. It is a sort of cathartic feeling watching a human body bloom and evolve and be one with the rhythm of the external world. It is at that moment that they and I breathe as one.
Despite all stereotypes of ballet being traditional, emotionally and physically restrictive, "Hong Kong Cool", an artistic project where Hong Kong Ballet, West Kowloon Cultural District and Hong Kong Art School collaborated, has proved ballet a possibility to be otherwise. It is the second time that West Kowloon and Hong Kong Ballet have teamed up. This year's project brought together choreographers, independent composers, technical designers and visual artists. They explored and experimented with the possibilities of multi-faceted showcase. I saw the show at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre on 13 Sept 2018. There were 7 different pieces of dance. Each lasted approximately 10 minutes. Generally, I find the whole performance refreshing. Its negation of the definite boundaries dividing fields of arts is a daring ideology put into practice, and yet inevitably natural.
The first piece is named "Wordless Letter", choreographed by Yuh Egami, music designed and improvised by Mike Yip, digital visuals designed by James Kong, and danced by Chen Zhiyao and Forrest Rain Oliveros. What stood out to me about this piece is the absolute synchronization of the digital words on screen and the dancers' movements. What they used to achieve that effect is a technology called Perception Neuron, which allows wearers of sensors to project their movements digitally on screen. We saw dancers wearing some sort of gear that glowed as it sensed movement. It was an interesting combination to see, one that expresses the essential urgency of the body and an immediate reaction of the digital age to which we all learn to adapt. Quoting from British author, Virginia Woolf's suicide note to her husband, we saw depressing sentences forming on screen in a distorted manner, as if these words embodied a massive burden of emotions, which became more important than the identity of the speaker. These dancers embodied also the same emotional weight, thus become one with the words projected, instead of distinctive speakers. This opening piece was one that marked a change for what we should expect of this program.
Jumping to the last piece, "When You See", choreographed by Hu Song Wei Ricky, music and live guitar accompaniment by Olivier Cong, cello by Harmony Chuh, clarinet by Peggy Lai, set design by Shiu Wan Man, and danced by Luis Cabrera on 13 Sept. I find this piece extremely atmospheric. A spotlight first shone on the balcony just beside the stage at musician Olivier Cong with his guitar. Then lights were off, what we saw next was a glowing sphere of yellow light on stage, like a moon, and very obscurely someone holding it, moving with it. I appreciate the gesture of them first showing the live musician, who played an important role in setting the tone for this piece. Cong used his guitar and vocals to create very monotonous sounds, yet managed to make them sound like desperation for the pursuit of hope. I was captured by the movement of the "moon" throughout the piece. At some point, I thought it was hanging by itself in the air. I would say that there is a certain fantasy to this object, which visualizes a kind of sadness and desire for the better. Fun fact, I went to a meet-the-artist session on 15 Sept 2018, where I got to hear Hu and Cong talk about their process of collaboration. It was a joy to know that they felt, jokingly, like "a match made in heaven". From the beginning when they were picking out partners as choreographer and composer, they both had similar concepts, thus could easily exercise their artistic visions at each other's pace.
I look forward to seeing more of HK Ballet's productions since I see the potential of these dancers and choreographers who, in a way, showed the audience a breakthrough of what they could do. I also am excited about future collaborative projects such as this one, which I think provides an amazing platform for artists of all kinds to join hands and rejoice possibilities of fluidity.
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