Review-IndepenDANCE Hong Kong-CCDC
7-12-14
By: Lisa Middleton
As part of their 35th anniversary celebrations, the City Contemporary Dance Company presented six pieces of contemporary dance with abstract themes; which both delighted and puzzled simultaneously. As a dance rookie I arrived with a completely blank slate of expectations. The blackbox venue was perfect for the performances, with minimal set pieces to organise between sets.
The first performance Baresthesi was impressively strong in both physicality and in interpretation. Frankie Lam and Kingsan Lo were a perfect match and worked amazingly in synch with each other. At times it reminded me of having to deal with depression in life, carrying it around with you, letting it go, having it jump on your back again, only to complete the whole cycle again. The one off-putting thing about this piece was the music/sound/voiceover which at times I found distracting.
Women, Body was by far my favourite piece. Choreographed and performed by Wong Pik-Kei had the audience laughing, with her audience participation, which was unexpected. I never knew there was such a thing as ‘dance comedy’ outside of old Charlie Chaplin movies but Wong Pik-kei managed to use her body and characterisation of a sea animal to the utmost. The use of her costume was nothing short of genius. The versatility of the whole performance made me go from laughing to sympathy in a very short period of time. A definite star and the outstanding performance of the show.
I was challenged and bamboozled by 2 Interpretation 2 – performed by Rain Chan, Vivian Leung, Alice Ma, Ivy Tsui, Yang Jing-xian and choreographed by Pak Wei-ming. This is not to deter from the talent of the dancers but I couldn’t come to a definite interpretation during or after the performance. Was it a machine? Was it an army? Was it sexual? And what was that costume material? The electronic music was a masterpiece. The unending energy of the dancers seemed at times to be completely uncoordinated but then they would arrive at a centrepiece and dance perfectly in synch with each other – visually it was quite stunning – I just wish I had understood it more.
After a short intermission (the shortest I have ever experienced in theatre outings). Breathe was choreographed and performed by Ivy Tsui and Kenneth Sze and it was a delight to hear some mainstream music from Alexi Murdoch. This piece made me smile, it was like watching a piece of children’s theatre, and the lighting really enhanced the dancers and the interpretation of the performance. It was too short for my liking - I could have watched a lot more of these performers!
It is really lovely here..or so I heard was performed by Christine Hung, Carmen Li, Tan Wei, Wong Chi-wing and Yu Lan and choreographed by Wong Chi-wing. The piece itself was visually and physically stunning and again open to so much interpretation but the dancers used unconventional methods (sniffing, yes really!) of portraying themselves within the piece.
The final performance was intriguing and everything you would have expected - a slow build up of movement and music with bursts of electronic in synch performance. Yat Yat was choreographed by Cherry Leung and performed by Hui Chun-kit, Lam Ka-wing, Sudhee Kiao, Kenneth Sze. My one issue was that the voiceover was only in Cantonese, every other performance with voiceover had been a mix.
Overall, I had a great evening and would like to explore more contemporary dance performances in the future, so job done I would say. For hardcore dance fans this is a must see and great value for money, a two minute walk from the MTR station and a short intermission!
InterpenDANCE is playing as part of the City Contemporary Dance Festival. For more information, click here.
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