Contemporary dancers Tsang Wing-fai and Wayson Poon always saw plenty of each other at rehearsals and performances. As of last year, they have been crossing paths at the Academy, where both happened to enroll in the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) programme at the School of Dance. These friends who met on stage are now classmates. Despite differing personalities and artistic styles, the duo have become teammates who, through continuous learning, exploration and reflection, work hard towards their creative goals.
Fai, who likes to question life through her works, is reticent to talk, but dancers are not limited by language. She began taking lessons in Chinese dance at the age of 6. From then on, she kept dancing and learning different dance forms, even while studying as an Architecture major at The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
"I've known that I like to dance since I was very little," she explains. "How should I put it? It's like I am destined to dance." After graduation, she became a "slasher," with multiple jobs at a time; she has been a school-activities instructor/ private tutor, and more. "I'd had all kinds of part-time jobs, before I could support myself relatively well by dancing," she says.
For years, Fai also worked as a choreographer for various dance companies, while part-timing as a dance teacher. But during the pandemic, empty slots started appearing in her usually crammed schedule.
"During the pause, I began contemplating what dance means to me," she recalls. "What else can I do?" Having danced for many years, she was worried about plateauing, allowing things to become perfunctory, and losing the urge to make progress and breakthroughs. "I had taught many classes, but never studied dance," she notes. "I thought I should make use of the extra time to go back to school."
Easing Into Communication
Fai's rich experience in dance earned her a scholarship from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund for her MFA studies. She is also using her time to explore other facets of the arts.
"The Academy gives us a lot of freedom and lets us grow as performing artists with the help of different programmes, teachers and activities," she points out. "For example, I did not take any dance courses in my first semester; instead I selected courses offered by the School of Drama and the School of Music. I also participated in the group dance rehearsals of the Bachelor's programme, where I partnered with Chinese Dance and Ballet majors. The experience was highly unforgettable."
As the MFA students come from different places, communication can be a challenge for Fai at times. She is grateful to have the company of Wayson Poon, and the two friends often have lengthy intellectual discussions after class. Interestingly, the gates of communication slowly and almost imperceptibly opened for Fai after the first semester.
"Experienced dance professionals I worked with noticed that I have become less afraid of talking," she says. "It may be due to all the practice I had in class discussions. Systematic teaching also lets me process what I learnt, and while categorising and integrating knowledge, I have a clearer grasp of my thoughts and ways of expression."
Fai will soon make her way to Germany to take part in a four-day dance exchange, on the School's recommendation. She has set a goal for the trip.
"Artists need to work with different people," she says. "The expression of creative concepts cannot stem from pure imagination, or be a conversation you have with no one but yourself. The vocabulary, theory and philosophy we learn in class enrich our personal concepts, and allow us to communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds when we go on exchange. This in turn leads us to consider if our thinking is thorough, and where the gaps and flaws may be." Overseas exchange, having been put on hold for a long time due to Covid, should be an inspiring journey of reflection on the self and on art.
A Personal Path
Compared to Fai, Wayson Poon is an easy talker. Wayson's first encounter with the Academy happened when he was accepted into the School of Dance after graduating from Form 5. His family urged him to continue with Form 6 studies instead, and reluctantly, he went along. "After one or two months, I knew it wasn't for me," he says. "I was completely lost. I told my family I wanted to withdraw from school. They made it clear that if I were to study dance, they wouldn't pay for tuition, and I'd have to find a way to support myself."
Wayson got a job in room service at the airport hotel. When his colleagues saw him singing and dancing while making up rooms, they encouraged him to reapply to the Academy. And he did.
In his first year as a Contemporary Dance major, Wayson had to take foundation courses covering Chinese dance, ballet and musical. "Having to juggle four courses was tough, but it was a seminal year that versed me in the similarities between the dances," he says. "I was then able to let different skills meld in my body and express themselves naturally."
One of Wayson's most-memorable experiences was being the lead performer in the graduation project Sinking Water. The choreographer was Visiting Artist Rob Tannion, a former dancer of DV8 Physical Theatre.
"He would talk to us at length in order to uncover our personal stories, which he would then put into the work," Wayson says. "My father had just passed away at the time. There were links between my personal life and the story. The experience was enlightening, to say the least. Each time I worked on a dance thereafter, I would ask myself if it could speak to the needs of my heart."
Seeing With Experienced Eyes
After graduation, Wayson used Beijing as a creative base, before returning to Hong Kong four years later and establishing The Body Acts workshop. He went on frequent creative and performance trips to Europe, the United States, and other parts of Asia. In recent years, Wayson has learnt how he likes to work. As his creative concepts lean towards Taoist and Asian philosophy, he needs a quiet environment in which to think and read, as well as a well-stocked resource library for research. That's when the idea of returning to the Academy came about.
"During the pandemic, interpersonal relationships were weakened, but I still longed to communicate and engage," he explains. "Going abroad to study or perform was almost out of the question, so I decided to stay put and delve into performance or some other topic of interest. In doing so, I hope Hong Kong's familiar soil will reveal more of itself to me, and enrich me with different values, so that I'll become a dynamic Hong Kong artist."
Returning to these gates after many years, Wayson sees his alma mater in a different light. "Before, I was too young to notice many things," he observes. "Now I realise that not only are the teaching facilities here excellent, the Academy pays great attention to detail. For instance, the Student Affairs Office emails us information on mental health. Even students' physical and psychological wellbeing are being cared for at the Academy."
Wayson appreciates the MFA programme's systematic curriculum. "Artists may sometimes enjoy being lost, but learning requires gradual accumulation and fermentation to be effective," he explains. The Academy emphasises interdisciplinary creative education. While in the past, collaboration was focused on connecting the six Schools, it has now gone beyond that. Wayson points out that one MFA activity involves partnering with the Department of Architecture at The University of Hong Kong, and using architectural knowledge to create an environmental dance.
"The Academy has exceptional networks," he says, both virtual and face-to-face. "It invites globally famous artists to teach webinars, and actively connects the dance community." For instance, when preparation was taking place recently for a large-scale dance performance in Hong Kong, Wayson notes his instructor sent students emails well ahead of time, to remind them to put in applications. "The art circle really needs an encouraging platform like the Academy, one that allows artists to come into their own through experimentation, trial and error," Wayson concludes.
The article was published in the Jun 2022 issue of Academy News. Click here to read the original story.)
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