In Memory of Ringo Chan

陳德昌先生生平 陳德昌先生 1959 年生於香港，自幼活潑好動。1972 年於何明華會督銀禧中學就讀時獲 老師邀請加入學校舞蹈組，自此熱愛舞蹈，並參與多屆校際舞蹈節比賽演出。他出眾 的表現獲得多位舞蹈界前輩賞識，1975 年獲王仁曼芭蕾舞學院獎學金接受正統芭蕾舞 訓練，並於 1976 年獲選入港英政府教育司署主辦的香港學生中國舞蹈團代表香港赴英 國倫敦及鴨巴甸「國際青年管弦樂節及文藝表演」演出，成為對外文化交流的先駒。 他在海外巡演期間把握機會學習及觀摩外國專業舞團的演出及訓練，明瞭香港舞蹈發 展之不足，回港後決心成為優秀的舞者。他不理會當時被稱為「文化沙漠」的香港對 男舞者的偏見，堅持每天下課後由九龍塘赴港島上舞蹈課，並以兼職補習所賺得的金 錢購買舞鞋舞衣，為達成夢想努力前進。 畢業後陳德昌任職設計工作，後來認識剛於英國學成回港發展的舞蹈家黎海寧及有志 在香港發展現代舞的曹誠淵，並於 1980 年接受曹誠淵的邀請加入成立剛一年的城市當 代舞蹈團（CCDC），成為香港首批全職專業現代舞者，自此服務舞團近 36 年，與舞團 一起成長，見證了香港舞蹈走向專業的歷史進程，亦參與了本土創作從無到有的發展 變化。1990 年陳德昌出任 CCDC 的排演監督，並於 1997 年晉升為舞團副藝術總監， 專注於提升演員藝術素養和保證演出質量，以及致力保存舞團作品，同時協助舞團推 展本港、內地和海外的專業舞蹈教育工作，曾先後為廣東現代舞團、北京現代舞團、 加拿大吳祖捷芭蕾舞團、香港演藝學院等重排多個舞團的經典舞碼。 陳德昌亦是香港著名舞蹈攝影家，他有見舞蹈記錄對推動舞蹈發展至為重要，故於八 十年代開始從事舞台攝影及錄像創作，並為本港及海外眾多藝團委約拍攝宣傳及舞台 劇照。自 1983 年起多次於香港、澳門、內地及美國舉辦舞蹈攝影個展，並於 1998 年 獲香港藝術發展局資助出版香港首冊舞蹈專題攝影集《動靜之間》，其攝影作品更被香 港文化博物館收藏。他於 2006 年獲香港舞蹈聯盟邀請攝製錄像《舞緣∙舞故》以記錄及 推廣本地舞蹈發展；2014 年，CCDC 為其舉辦個展「躍定 35──陳德昌舞蹈攝影展」， 以慶祝舞團成立三十五周年。 陳德昌敬業樂業、為人友善親和，深受同事愛戴，並且積極培育人才，關懷新晉舞 者，是藝術家的良師益友，深得同業敬重。他在推動業界發展亦不遺餘力，曾出任香 港舞蹈聯盟理事會副主席及香港演藝學院舞蹈學院顧問，並先後於 1999 年獲香港舞蹈 聯盟頒發「舞蹈家年獎」及 2006 年獲香港演藝學院頒授榮譽院士，以表揚其對舞蹈界 的貢獻。 陳德昌於 2016 年 3 月開始感到不適，經檢查後證實患上胰臟癌，期間除積極接受治療 外，更將他的豐富經驗及人生領悟傳授後輩，惟 2016 年 7 月 19 日晚上於威爾斯親王 醫院安詳離世，終年 56 歲。

Obituary Ringo Chan Tak-chong, 56, passed away peacefully with family and friends by his side at the Prince of Wales Hospital on the evening of Tuesday 19 July 2016, after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Ringo was born in Hong Kong in 1959. He was outgoing and energetic from a young age. In 1972, he was invited by his teacher at the Bishop Hall Jubilee School to join its dance team. It was where he found his passion for dance, participating in several editions of the School Dance Festival. His outstanding performance was recognised by forerunners of Hong Kong dance scenes and he was granted a scholarship from Jean M. Wong School of Ballet in 1975 to pursue formal ballet training.

The next year he was selected to be a member of the Hong Kong Schools Chinese Dance Team organised by Education Department of the Hong Kong Government, and became a pioneer of outbound cultural exchange, representing Hong Kong to perform in London and Aberdeen, UK in the 1976 International Festival of Youth Orchestras and Performance Arts. During the visit, he seized the opportunity to learn and observe overseas professional companies through performance and training, and realised how dance in Hong Kong was underdeveloped. The experience strengthened his resolve to become an outstanding dancer. He ignored the social bias of the time, labelling Hong Kong as a “cultural desert” as well as the general attitude towards male dancers, and travelled every day after school between Kowloon Tong and Hong Kong Island for ballet classes. He also took up a part-time job as a private home tutor to make money for costume and dance shoes.

After graduation, Ringo took up a job as a designer. Some time later, he met choreographer Helen Lai who returned to Hong Kong after studying dance in the UK and Willy Tsao who strived to develop contemporary dance in Hong Kong. In 1980 he accepted Willy Tsao’s invitation to join the City Contemporary Dance Company as the first group of professional contemporary dancers. Since then, Ringo had worked with CCDC for almost 36 years. He grew up with the Company and witnessed Hong Kong dance scene’s development from amateur to professional. Having engaged in the development of local creativity from the start, Ringo was an indisputable arts pioneer of Hong Kong.

Ringo was then promoted to CCDC’s Rehearsal Master in 1990, turning his attention to improving CCDC dancers’ artistic accomplishment and the Company’s programming quality. He was further promoted to Assistant Artistic Director in 1997, a role he held until his passing. Chan was active in conserving and documenting CCDC’s dance programmes, as well as assisting the Company in educational and outreach events in Hong Kong, mainland China and overseas since the 1990s. Ringo had worked with renowned dance companies, including Guangdong Modern Dance Company, Beijing Modern Dance Company, the Goh Ballet in Canada and The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, for which he rearranged various repertoire of CCDC. Ringo was also a renowned dance photographer. He had always been aware of the importance of archiving in the promotion of dance’s development. He began photographing and filming for performing arts companies in the 1980s, receiving commissions from local and overseas organisations to shoot publicity and production images. Since 1983, he had held dance photography exhibitions in Hong Kong, Macau, Mainland China and the US. In 1998, he published Hong Kong’s first dance photography book The Dance Photography of Ringo Chan, funded by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. His dance photography was collected by the Hong Kong Heritage Museum.

He was also commissioned by the Hong Kong Dance Alliance to produce a documentary Why They Dance to record and promote local dance development. In 2014, CCDC presented his solo exhibition 35 Moments: Dance Photography by Ringo Chan to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Company.

During his service at CCDC, Ringo’s dedication to excellence, his friendliness and affinity made him greatly loved by colleagues and respected by the dance sector especially through his mentorship full of grace, generosity and professionalism. He served as the Vice Chairman of the Hong Kong Dance Alliance and an advisor of School of Dance of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.

In recognition of his contribution, he received the Hong Kong Dance Award from Hong Kong Dance Alliance in 1999 and he is an honorary fellowship from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 2006.

陳德昌追思會 In Memory of Ringo Chan 日期 Date: 31.7.2016 時間 Time: 6pm 地點 Venue: CCDC 舞蹈中心 CCDC Dance Centre

司儀致歡迎詞 司儀致悼念詞 司儀帶領默哀 分享嘉賓─ 莊陳波先生 黃建宏先生 白朗唐先生 呂志剛先生 梅卓燕女士 其他嘉賓 陳德昌家人分享 儀式完成 *****

Welcome Remarks Eulogy Moment of Silence Sharing by Guests of Honour Mr Chong Chan-po Mr Kevin Wong Mr Tom Brown Mr Lui Chi-kong Ms Mui Cheuk-yin Other guests Sharing by Ringo’s Family End of Ceremony

感謝今天出席者及提供相片和影像的親友，承蒙各位的心意和協助，使追思會得以完成。 Thank you for attending the memorial service today. We would like to express our gratitude to those who shared photos and videos. Your presence and assistance have made this event possible.