Review-Spring Board Showcase-Hong Kong Dance Alliance
17-5-14
By: Michael Dorsher
In stand-up comedy, there’s a basic structure when putting a set together: use a strong opener, close with your strongest material, and anything that’s new/untested/unproven can then go into the middle. This performance follows this structure knowingly with the showcase of three mid-career choreographers' contemporary works at the Sai Wan Ho Civic Center.
But what in the world is a mid-career choreographer?
Again, from a stand-up comedy perspective, once you are on stage telling jokes, you are: a comedian. I would think that once you’re designing the movements of the dancers on stage, you are then: a choreographer.
From my program reading, internet scouring and logic-put-togethering, it appears to be: a choreographer. Somehow the term is broken down into emerging, mid-career and established. Further research shows a more complex career progression:
dance student > dancer > assistant choreographer > freelancer > emerging choreographer > mid- career choreographer > established choreographer
If anyone can put a finer detail down in the comments to help us novices of the dance industry differentiate these nuances, that would be greatly appreciated. You see: no one leaves comments on my posts. So here’s your chance - there will be more.
The show was very well done, and the dancers were spot on in their form. Let me break down each of the three pieces in order of appearance.
MEET by DoDo Lau
The beautiful lighting complemented interesting set pieces, in turn complementing the flawless movement of the dancers on stage. It was eastern influenced but accessible by all. DoDo Lau was the lead dancer, complemented by two male compatriots who battled for her interaction & attentions, as the world set before us changed with each victory and loss.
Line II by Kai Chen
This one was not really my cup of tea but it had its moments with which I could connect. I would describe this piece as the Cubism of dance. It contained rigid, clocklike movements and the creation of geometrical shapes with the aid of bow-staffs. That’s right: I said bow-staffs. Kai Chen instructs weapon technique for Beijing opera. So all you TMNT fans out there can get some Donatello story-lines in this piece described by its creator as “Classifiable Movement”.
I was not as big a fan of the music accompaniment for this piece and when the staffs appeared to be moving in unison they were not quite there. Perhaps there’s some backstory making it helpful to have viewed Line I. (For example, my fiancé was terribly confused when she jumped into Hunger Games: Catching Fire having not seen the first film.) The lighting was good and Kai Chen can be identified on stage as the one with the fastest long-staff movement of the three. Is this a good thing? I don’t know but (this piece being not my cup of tea) it seemed appropriately placed in the program.
Nothing… But Something by Yang Hao
This one appeared to have a cold opening, wherein there was a minute or two of slow movement on stage before the house lights actually came down. This was a bit distracting because most of the audience was still trying to gain social acceptance via smart-phone applications while there was movement being made. If it was not meant to be part of the show, then I’d advise those dancers to cross the stage more swiftly in an unseen backstage zone.
Once the house lights went down and people started paying attention, this piece became my favourite. The music was very interesting, and incorporated dance movements on stage which added live percussion to the recorded audio created by Norweigian electronic musician Kim Hiorthøy. The dance movements and accompanying music were a finely balanced symmetry of chaos and beauty. While Yang Hao says he tries not to limit dance movements to a medium of story-telling, there is a story you can view - but I would not go so far as to say it’s a direct narrative. This piece is more a Rorschach test of a story, allowing the viewers to project their own emotions and experiences onto the dancers and the piece as a whole.
It was unfortunate that the woman beside me wouldn’t put her phone down during this final piece. During the first two pieces, she had not been sitting there but joined me before the final piece started and got up before it concluded. The theatre staff asked all audience to turn off their mobile phones off as they entered the performance space but you know how "some" audience members seem to know better than that.
The great irony was that this very rude, phone addicted audience member was Alice Rensy, the Artistic Advisor of the last piece, Nothing... But Something.
*
Dear Alice,
When you invite your friends to the theatre, yes, the pair you were with, please advise them to refrain from putting their feet up and over the row of chairs in front of them. This is rude in most any environment, and our local patrons sitting in front were quite taken aback to come back from the intermission to find their seats with feet inside of them. Particularly when it’s a rainy time of year, but - honestly - anytime. It is Le French May, and we should be promoting the Le French positive stereotypes of being cultured during this time - not our Le French negative stereotypes of being ill-mannered or discourteous.
Thank you for calling yourselves out and taking a bow with the company at the end of the night so I could identify you as a staff member of the production. This was especially disturbing to me as an audience member.
This is the end of my rant.
*
If you have an appreciation for dance or an interest in exploring something new, you can’t go wrong with the Springboard Showcase. The dancers all deliver an exceptional performance, the venue is great and, let’s face it, we all need a reason to go further down the blue line than Tin Hau. This show is one such good reason. Tickets are completely reasonable at $100 to $150HKD. Go see it!
Spring Board Showcase is playing through May 18th at Sai Wan Ho Civic Center. For more information, click here.
Comments
Laura
Thanks for the review Michael. Rushing to get my ticket for tomorrow's show. Arts Festival let me down somewhat on contemporary dance but the recent Tell Me the Truth and Other Stories from Le French May made me itchy again.
17 May 2014Michael Dorsher
Thanks Laura! Do enjoy - let me know if you agree with my take on the show.
18 May 2014
Ashley
The show is wonderful! Go support this company. No mobiles were present on the second night, fyi.
19 May 2014