《相對現場》-ENG

Relatively LIVE The performance questions how relationships are formed, overturned and subverted.

Gazing at the various ways and forms of understanding how the audience-actor relationship is perceived in contemporary society.

In the air between our ___ is a performance that expands on the relationship between two people, showcasing the various confrontations and collaborations between people in a delicate and intimate search for the power to define oneself. LIVE contemplates how one should perceive, apprehend and understand the state of “the present” and “co-existence” in the moment, and exposes how the intervention of various media in the channels of information reception shape our reality and the disparities that arise from within.

Creative Team

In the air between our ___ Concept, Creation and Performance

Emily Ng, Carman Li

LIVE Concept, Creation and Performance

Lawrence Lau, Holmes Cheung, Sabrina Wong

About Unlock Unlock Dancing Plaza Unlock Dancing Plaza is a promising contemporary dance company founded in 2002 based in Hong Kong, with Ong Yong Lock as Artistic Director and Joseph Lee as Associate Artistic Director. Unlock is committed to pursuing innovative breakthrough and theatrical liberation. These commitments are embodied in and practised through its productions. The company focuses in reflecting dance on the basis of individual. Through defining dance in the uniqueness of a body and being free from the institutionalised aesthetics of dance, Unlock deeply believes, “Everyone can dance”.

Curating cross-media, cross-regional, and experimental projects, Unlock Body Lab is developed to discover and show the possibilities of dance in various forms. #danceless includes a series of creative works, performances and workshops that are based on public participatory as the main way of artistic practise. It promotes and deepens the diversity of imagination of dance; facilitate the mutual exchange between artists and the public through experiencing dance together.

Unlock is a three-time Hong Kong Dance Awards recipient and highly recognised by the dance industry. Its representative works include Jump to Mars, Dance with me, Boy Story. Reborn, Wanderer, serial dance-theatre Walls 44, Chopin VS Ca, and etc. The company is financially supported by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council since 2009.

About #DANCELESS Complex #DANCELESS complex – Choreographic Methodology Based on the aesthetic basis that Unlock Dancing Plaza has gradually established through the years, the concept of #danceless is first proposed by Artistic Director Ong Yong Lock.

By examining the mainstream, institutionalized dance training and aesthetics of dance, #DANCELESS complex develops another (or more than one) way of seeing, using, and connecting the body and mind. It is hoped that dance can enter more people’s lives in different forms and ways.

As the major platform, #DANCELESS complex expands the whole concept to a larger scale,

trying to unify the direction of studies in recent years in a more complete curating context, plus, presenting and communicating with the industry and the public. The inaugural festival addresses the methodology that is less understood and talked about in the local dance community through five separate works corresponding to the theme of the platform, “Choreographic Methodology”. Channeling the classification as an angle to view and enter the work, and at the same time, provides a larger framework to express the understanding of each choreographer for the work and the process of creation.

The platform is held from July to November 2021. In these five months, there will be a series of activities, including performances, residency programs, workshops and talks, which allow participants to further understand the work’s origin, process and motivations behind it; to unfold different levels of communication and extend the dense and short juncture in most dance festivals. This allows different cultures and perspectives to develop over time, supporting artists and participants to communicate organically.

At the same time, a writer group was formed to bring dance records from comments only for particular works to various discussions about “choreography”. The possibilities of dance

commentary, choreography and views are explored from different perspectives, generating more ideas that can be discussed before and after the ephemeral performance, connect directly with the local dance community, and experiment with the way of archive.

To plan such a platform for a dance company, to talk about #DANCELESS through dance is nothing more than to expand the existing definition of aesthetics and breakthrough behind different cultural contexts, in the hope of stimulating the local performing arts community and reflecting on itself. How dance, as one of the expressions that brings together perception, reason and primitiveness, connects people around the world today, sharing experiences and connecting with times. Only by opening up your mind, can you see more choices and freedom.

Co-curators Ong Yong Lock, Joseph Lee Chief Editor (Dance writing) Dick Wong Dance Writing Chan Wai Lok, Dong Yan, Brian Yu Producer Michael Li International Public Relations and Marketing Wouter Bouchez Graphic Design Peter Bird Studio Videographer & Video Editor REDTEAM Programme Coordinator Yan Cheng Marketing Coordinator Chris Kwong

*

Administration Coordinator Vincent Yik *The Arts Administration Internship Scheme is supported by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council

Curators’ Word If there is a restart, how would we face our relationship with the world - Joseph Lee Relatively LIVE is the fourth local program of #DANCELESS complex, which is composed of two completely different works: one being LIVE co-created by Holmes Cheung, Sabrina Wong and Lawrence Lau; the other being In the air between our _______ co-choreographed by Emily Ng and Li Ka Man. The inaugural #DANCLESS complex is centred around ‘choreographic methodologies’, which tries to expand on the logic and approach to choreography in different cultures, with discussions on the process and context in which dance performances are constructed. The first three performances of the inaugural festival showcased different expressions and logic about dance: Body Works operates in an open source and semi-autobiographical manner within a decentralized power construct; in the two works which make up I'm Only My Body?, Cheung Lee Hung invites participation of the audience against the backbone of the text, and Kerry and Frieda utilizes reflection and time lapse in mirror images to manipulate the gaze between viewers and performers; last but not least, the newly commissioned Drink and Dance uses alcohol as a medium to trigger physical reactions altering the

final state of the work.

LIVE debuted in 2019 before socio-political events and the pandemic took over the world.

The three creators from different fields had already been questioning the modern ways we take on new information and concepts, how we experience passage of time, and how our presence and spatial contexts alter our perception of reality and the world. The work utilizes a variety of media including installations, videography, recordings, live broadcasts and television, narration, de-contextualised bodily movements, and even Facebook live and its interactions. The attempt to construct a space with layers of overlapping and contradicting information raises questions on the hidden contexts and meanings of being “live” in a theatre performance. The creators’ diverse training backgrounds collide in the creative process, through which brings experimentation of how the various media intersect. Unique perspectives are derived from this and showcases each of their thinking in the process. Lawrence Lau uses audio and visuals while Holmes Cheung utilizes text and theatre, and Sabrina Wong engages the body and dance. The world has changed dramatically two years on from the debut, with live and recorded broadcasting of performances becoming far more commonplace. These have become necessary considerations given the restrictions

on social gatherings and how this impacts the way live performances can be experienced.

Nowadays, the meaning and implication of “live performance” is constantly re-invented – the artists have reassessed the presentation and construction of this performance to showcase their thoughts on what it means to be “live”.

If LIVE is a dialectic on time and space (both inside and outside the theatre) underpinning the various layers of performance, then In the air between our _______ focuses on people as the subject. What is contemplated is not space or objects which exist independently, but rather relationships which exist in relativity, be it time, space, the self or others. Emily Ng takes her concept and collaborates with fellow creator Carman Li in a relationship of equality – the two were classmates since attending The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts together and are also genuine friends in real life. Their inaugural performance in 2017 was titled In the Air between our Particles, expressly refers to a distance that cannot be crossed.

By performing (and re-creating) this work after four years, the idea of ‘distance / particles’ gradually fades into the background, and is being simplified into an open-ended sentence waiting to be filled in. The concrete idea of distance or direction can no longer be found and is instead replaced by a blank slate open to

interpretation, imposing the possibility of change and modifications. As opposed to the rationality and objectivity conveyed in LIVE, In the air between _______ composed of intuitive and perceptive narratives. The debut is based upon an intimate friendship and utilizes fragmented and overlapping soundscapes and Q&A. The support, collaboration, competition, learning and understanding in the relationship is closely examined and reflected in the self and each other.

Both works are examinations of the measurements of time, space and distance which have become more poignant than ever with the pandemic. A restart implies starting again from the beginning of the creative process, while also having gathered thoughts accumulated through experiencing time that was spent. Days go by and life in the past stays in the past – if there is a restart, how would we face our relationship with the world?

LIVE “Live” is a space that is repeatedly but also continuously jumped. The media interacting in the same space constitutes “Live”. Three artists, Holmes Cheung, Lawrence Lau and Sabrina Wong construct a “Live” to stimulate visual and auditory experiences, allowing interaction between performers and audience. This is an exploration of intuition and perception of time.

Concept, Creation and Performance

Lawrence Lau, Holmes Cheung, Sabrina Wong

Holmes LIVE https://m.twitch.tv/holmes0209 Sabrina LIVE https://www.facebook.com/unlockdancing/ Lawrence LIVE https://youtube.com/channel/ UCMsshiznCZweXTVGdlQYa5A

Lawrence Lau Concept, Creation and Performance Lawrence Lau Hiu-kong graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Composition and Electronic Music from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and obtained a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Media from the City University of Hong Kong. He is the recipient of a number of scholarships, including those from HSBC, the Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong (CASH), The Lions and Joseph Koo Music Foundation, and Musicus Society. Lau’s works span composition, live performance and audiovisual art, and have been performed in Hong Kong and internationally including at the Asian Composer League Conference and Festival (Taiwan), Hong Kong Arts Festival, highSCORE Festival (Italy) and Musicus Fest.

Holmes Cheung Concept, Creation and Performance Freelance actor and graphic designer. Exploring theatre, dance and movement with the perspectives from both a designer and a performer, Cheung has actively participated in and carried out a wide variety of theatre performances and experimental creations.

Recent performances include: YinNgZi – Makye Ame, 2nd Stage - Live, Joseph Lee – Drifting, Cinematic Theatre Lightening, Theatre Ronin – Free Playing Park!, Joseph Lee - The World Once Flat, YinNgZi – Anti-Kōdy, Alex Tam – Cave Theatre.

Sabrina Wong Concept, Creation and Performance Born in Hong Kong, Sabrina Wong first came into contact with modern dance at the age of 18. In 2018, she graduated from the National Taiwan University of Sport (NTUS) Department of Dance. In 2016, she performed in dance videos by Joseph Lee – It Tastes Like You which was premiered in the Jumping Frames International Dance Video Festival. She also performed in, Awakening of NTUS Dance Company in 2017, The World Was Once Flat by Joseph Lee which were staged in To Each His Own City of Stella and Artists, The Message Behind the Wall By 198491 in Tai Kwun Dance Season, SIDance in 2018, and presented her first choreographed works Here I Am at Imagination Boom 4 by E-Side Dance Company in the same year. In 2019, she performed Hong Kong Dance Alliance "New Force in Motion" – Mo Ngaan Tai by Terry Tsang, CCDC 2nd Stage 2019 LIVE Choreographed and performed by Holmes Cheung, Lawrence Lau and Sabrina Wong .

Words from the LIVE team In 2018: In Sabrina’s solo performance Here I am, two chairs are connected by fish lines, and the dancer interacts with one chair to trigger movements from the other chair; In 2019: Holmes and Lawrence joined in.

The exploration of the ideas of the subject, object, anterior, posterior, cause and effect in Here I Am is amplified and further developed.

The subject-object relationship between the performer and the chairs evolves into a subjectobject relationship both before and after the transformation of information, resulting in the original version of LIVE. In 2021: Things have changed including venues, regulations, experience, mentality, ability, technique, skill, perspectives and more, thereby resulting in the current version of LIVE.

In the air between our ____ To whom it may concern, How long do you call it long?

How have we changed in these years?

Concept, Creation and Performance

Emily Ng, Carman Li

Carman Li Concept, Creation and Performance A freelance professional dancer, Li graduated from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts with a bachelor degree of Fine Arts (Honors), majoring in Contemporary Dance in 2014.

Her recent participations include Tai Kwun Contemporary Zoo

by Eisa Jocson; Hong Kong Arts Festival@Tai Kwun Our Atlas

by Chloe Wong; Hong Kong Dance Exchange 2020 Action by KT Yau; LCSD Yin Yu Chun Fai programme A Body Research

by Dick Wong; New Force in Motion series Infiltrated by Tsang Wing Fai; Departure X Wei Dance Company The Key by Rex Cheng.

Li has also participated in cultural exchange programmes, including Unmixed by KT Yau toured in 2nd DANCESTAGES

Shanghai Dance Festival in 2018 after the premiere and restage in Hong Kong, and Simon Says, facilitated by West Kowloon Cultural District, co-produced by Unlock Dancing Plaza and Le Phare, National Choreographic Center of Le Havre Normandy (France), which premiered in France in January and toured in Hong Kong in June and Guangzhou in November in 2017.

Her choreographies include 2nd Stage 〡夂〨〤 presented by

CCDC Dance Centre, and In The Air Between Our Particles cocreated with Emily Ng.

Words from the Choreographer – Carman Li Looking through the magnifying glass, what appears to be a work belonging only to “You” and “I” can become multiple different “You” and “I” if you zoom out. Yet, when it comes to the distance between people, whilst some can be measured by the numbers, others cannot be measured nor calculated.

And I believe that the reason why Emily and I became close is not simply because of the fact that we have known each other for twelve years now.

I would like to thank Unlock Dancing Plaza for bringing In the air between our ________ to the audience in 2021.

Emily Ng Concept, Creation and Performance Born in Hong Kong.

Profile: 5/1, Splenic authority Projector.

Ng started ballet training at the age of four.

Ng graduated from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (Contemporary Dance).

Ng co-choreographed and performed In the air between our particles which supported by HKADC-Emerging Artist Scheme-2015 with Li Ka-Man in 2017.

A freelance artist, striving for life and future.

Words from the Choreographer – Emily Ng My horoscope is a Sun in Leo, meaning I am born with a simple and straightforward mind that sees things in black and white.

In recent years, I have been obsessed with learning about Human Design, and was particularly fascinated by its allusions to the principles of “dualism” set forth in I Ching: every person is born with unique default settings. Regardless of which definitions you were born with or without, yes or no, you are still unique in your own right. “Having” certain traits is not always better, as it largely depends on how you practice or make good use of it. Dualism also gives rise to opposites in relativism.

2021 arrived in the blink of an eye – I believe that for the past two years, whether we like it or not, all of us have experienced how the power of “distance” affects our minds and bodies… resulting in who we are today, shouldering traces of the time and distance gone by.

A big thank you to Unlock Dancing Plaza for the invitation – without which we wouldn’t be here today to meet once again and bring forth the re-run of this performance.

#DANCELESS complex event listing Freesteps workshop

by Su Wei Chia 15/10 (Fri) Time 15:00 - 17:00 Target Dancers or Physical performers with professional training background Fee $200 Date

Public Participants Session (1) 15/10 (Fri) Time 19:30 - 21:00 Target Aged 12 or above, no performance experience needed Fee Free of charge Date

Elderly Participants Session 16/10 (Sat) Time 10:30 - 12:00 Target Aged 50 or above, no performance experience needed Fee Free of charge Date

Public Participants Session (2) Date Time

16/10 (Sat) 15:00 - 16:30

Aged 12 or above, no performance experience needed Free of charge

Target Fee

Venue

JC Cube, Tai Kwun

The workshops will be conducted in Mandarin.

Public Participants Session(1), Public Participants Session (2), Elderly Participants Session Registration: www.taikwun.hk/zh/programme/detail/danceless-complex/853

Professional Dancers Session Registration: https://freestepsworkshop.eventbrite.hk

FreeSteps – NiNi Outdoor Screening 16 - 17/10 (Sat-Sun) Time 14:00 - 14:45 Venue Laundry Steps, Tai Kwun Outdoor screening, Free of charge Date and Time

#DANCELESS complex Borderline 19 - 20/11 (Fri-Sat) 20:00; Venue Multi-media Theatre, HKSC Arts and Culture Centre Price $180 Date and Time

Artists Team Artistic Director Ong Yong Lock Associate Artistic Director Joseph Lee Resident Choreographer KT Yau #

#

Resident Artists Andy Lee, Kerry Cheung , James Yau

Administration Team Project Manager Michael Li Outreach Officer Tiffany Ko *

Programme and Marketing Trainee Chris Kwong Transmedia Content Creator Vincent Yik Community Arts Mediator John Wen Accounting Officer (Part-time) Amy Chan Administrative Assistant (Part-time) Choi Ka Lin

*The Arts Administration Internship Scheme is supported by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council #Employed on contract basis

Presented By

Media Partners

Acknowledgement

"#DANCELESS complex" is financially supported by the Arts Capacity Development Funding Scheme of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region The content of this programme does not reflect the views of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Unlock website www.unlock.com.hk #DANCELESS complex website www.dancelesscomplex.com Facebook www.facebook.com/unlockdancing Instagram www.instagram.com/unlockdancingplaza Youtube www.youtube.com/UnlockDancingPlaza