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Xinhua News Agency, Hong Kong, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Fusion of Body and Brush and Ink: An Exploration of Oriental Aesthetics in Hong Kong Dance
Long Jingyi
The fog gathers and disperses, water droplets fall and evaporate, and the stage is like an unfolding piece of rice paper, and the dancers turn into pen and ink, leaving calligraphy traces between the tossing and splashing.
The music is sparse, the dancers' footsteps and breathing can be heard, and the audience feels together, an ancient post from the first sunny day after the snow in the Eastern Jin Dynasty to the autumn night in Hong Kong today.
This is a new world of ink painting created by Hong Kong Dance Company's original dance poem "Fast Snow and Sunny Times", which will be staged at the Xiqu Centre in the West Kowloon Cultural District from 11 to 14 this month. Founded in 1981, Hong Kong Dance Company (HKDC) is a professional Chinese dance company funded by the HKSAR Government, dedicated to drawing on traditional Chinese culture and promoting contemporary artistic creativity and Chinese dance with Hong Kong characteristics.
Oriental Aesthetics: Sincerity and Subtlety
There are no characters, no routines, and "Fast Snow and Sunny Time", which is based on Wang Xizhi's handwriting, is a different kind of dance program. "Sunny Post When the Snow is Fast" is known as another line of book masterpieces of the "Book Sage" after "Lanting Collection Preface", the content is to say hello to friends after a heavy snowfall, just like today's mobile phone text messages.
"The book is only a few crosses, written in the era of war and chaos, but Wang Xizhi still cares about his friends and has joy in life." Yang Yuntao, who is also a director and choreographer, was touched by this subtle but sincere emotion, "Those who read it read that emotion, it carries the emotions of our Chinese, passed down from generation to generation." ”
In the rehearsal room, Yang Yuntao and the dancers flipped through the handwritings, looking for the "ink" flowing between the undulating lines. What Yang Yuntao pursues is not to imitate calligraphy strokes with his body, but to express emotions through qi rhyme. The dancers start with the simplest breathing, feel the flow of qi, and extend the oriental aesthetics.
Yang Yuntao graduated from the Dance Department of Minzu University of China and joined the Hong Kong Dance Company in 2002 as Principal Dancer and Artistic Director in 2013.
In Yang Yuntao's view, dance is a kind of body language, with an independent way of presentation. He detached "Sunny Time in the Snow" from the musical and costume styles that are hallmarks of Chinese dance, and the dancers used calligraphy as a starting point to quietly show the inner ups and downs of the body. The dance movements are slow and urgent, and the calligraphic lines are intertwined or parallel, all of which have emotions flowing in them, naturally drawing a flowing ink painting.
Yang Yuntao said: "This is the expression of traditional Chinese culture, and it is also the abstraction and purity that many Western artists have been looking for all their lives, in fact, it has existed in the East thousands of years ago. ”
Comprehending the subtlety of traditional Chinese aesthetics, sometimes like decryption, is the joy. Mr. Leung, an audience member who loves calligraphy, walked into the theater because he was curious about how ink could be transformed into dance, "The stage is very creative, as if it was really snowing fast, and in the moment of sunshine, I felt that after the darkness was infinitely bright."
Cross-border: blending and running-in
Calligraphy paper is used for stage sets, and with inkstone-like pools, the dancers' bodies dipped in "ink" leave powerful "handwriting" on the stage. Outside the theatre, five cheongsams inspired by ink paintings are on display together with an interactive screen of ink paintings, extending the artistic experience of ink painting.
"Sometimes technology can feel tough, but technology can also present a lot of things that are not easy for us to decipher." Zhang Hanqian, a new media artist who designs installations for stages, has been researching technical calligraphy for more than ten years.
He was inspired to use motion capture technology to allow dancers to swing their devices in the air, and to combine the recorded "strokes" with the dancers' brainwave data. When the black semi-transparent gauze curtain falls on the stage, the data turns into intricate ink, like a beating heart, reflecting the dancers and rich in layers.
The program also blends dance, calligraphy, martial arts and live performances, spanning the past and the present, blending East and West. Yang Yuntao admits that there is no plot and script, and there is more spiritual communication between him and the artist, "because we have a common aesthetic of traditional Chinese culture."
As a Western musical instrument, the violin is performed by violinist Yao Jue on the spot, and the charm of Chinese tradition is set off with Western classical music.
"Although I am playing Western works on Western instruments, this show has roots in traditional Chinese culture." Yao Jue believes that the combination of East and West can bring a new viewing experience.
Ng, a fourth-year student majoring in Chinese Dance at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, said: "When the violin sounded, I was shocked, the combination of rigidity and softness of calligraphy and the lyricism of strings fused together, and the dancers in the group dance were both consistent and free. "Between the blur of light and shadow, and the shade of ink, we return to the most essential emotion of dance.
Reinventing the Body: Breakthrough and Confidence
For this performance, Yang Yuntao specially invited a Tai Chi master and let the dancers practice for half a year. Since 2018, Hong Kong Dance Company has launched a project entitled "Interaction between Chinese Dance and Chinese Martial Arts".
In Hong Kong for many years, Yang Yuntao has seen that many children are very fond of Chinese dance and are very thoughtful, "I don't want to see us being limited by physical conditions." Yang Yuntao hopes to explore the training method of the oriental body, "especially the southern martial arts are difficult to practice, and I hope that the dancers can find confidence."
Wang Zhisheng is a principal dancer, born in Malaysia, and joined the Hong Kong Dance Company in 2018. In the class, the master emphasized the determination of the mind, and the intention was not forced, like a lotus flower floating on the water. In this extreme concentration, Wang Zhisheng gradually calmed down. He has a long solo dance in "Fast Snow and Clear Days", for which he trains for nine hours a day, and when he returns home, he will improve his performance by reading and other things.
After martial arts training, the dancer's body language returns to the taste of oriental aesthetics. During the show, the audience will not see the full Tai Chi movements, or will be able to find a calm tree, a light cat, or a fish in a stream. Yang Yuntao hopes that through martial arts training, dancers can return to their bodies and not think about acting. "The more focused you are, the more artistically expressive."
Yang Yuntao hopes that continuous exploration will enable Hong Kong Dance Company to establish its own unique brand. In addition to overseas tours, there will also be more and more exchanges between HKB and the Mainland. He said: "The inheritance and innovation of traditional Chinese culture must be done, and I am very happy to devote myself to it. ”
Video: Tan Jiaming, Long Jingyi