Chan Wai Lok/Larry Shuen, Justyne Li, Woo Yat Hei, KT Yau Ka-hei

PROGRAM

12.11 [Wed] 19:00

@KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theatre Middle Studio

＜PROGRAM＞ Four Performances by Hong Kong-based artists

Chan Wai Lok / Larry Shuen “Stolen Ears; Muffled Bell”

Chan Wai Lok, who transitioned to dance after studying architecture, and Larry Shuen, who entered the world of choreography from multimedia and sound art, collaborate to visualize the relationship between dance and music in a novel way. They first see musicians who perform live as elements of choreography and theater, then reverse this premise by exploring the possibility of dancers generating music through their movements. Chan and Larry both choreograph and perform in the piece, challenging the traditional dynamic where musicians are the performers of music and dancers are its visual interpreters. This dance experience, overflowing with experimentalism, merges sound and visuals, allowing the audience to perceive music through movement in an unprecedented way.

“Stolen Ears; Muffled Bell”
Choreographer, Performer：Chan Wai Lok
Choreographer, Multimedia & Sound Artist, Performer：Larry Shuen
Support：Hong Kong Arts Development Fund

The concept and ideas were conceived and developed from the “FIRST Creation Platform” presented by WestK.

Justyne Li “Does My Body Represents My Whole Self（Solo-Together）”

© Jesse Clockwork

Justyne Li is highly acclaimed both domestically and internationally, including winning the Hong Kong Dance Award, for her vibrant choreographic works that sharply contrast classical aesthetics with dramatic movements that break from tradition. In this piece, centered around the question posed by the title, “Does my body represent all that I am?”, Li engages in a close collaboration with dancer Sam Yuen, meticulously weaving together a solo dance performance. The smooth movements, rooted in ballet and modern dance, encapsulate themes of one individual’s relationship with the external world, internal conflicts, and self-understanding. The dance unfolds in connection with the dancer’s genuine emotions, where loneliness transforms and vulnerability emerges as strength, delicately portraying the shifting nature of humanity.

“Does My Body Represents My Whole Self（Solo-Together）”
Choreographer：Justyne Li
Soloist：Sam Yuen

Woo Yat Hei “Traffik Is-Land”

© Maximillian Cheng

Woo Yat Hei, an artist active in both contemporary dance and theater performance, presents a solo work, showcasing as choreographer and performer. Woo draws inspiration from his fascination with land reclamation sites at sea, aiming to create a space that exists between the physical and virtual worlds. Through a play on words and associations linked to the concept of “traffic”—from traffic island (designated areas on roads for controlling vehicle flow and protecting pedestrians) to the illicit trafficking of antiques—the work weaves together a variety of images. The body attempts to establish logic within the space, as dance becomes a game that oscillates between the expected and the unexpected. You won’t want to miss what emerges from this interplay?

“Traffik Is-Land”
Choreographer, Performer：Woo Yat Hei

The concept and ideas were conceived and developed from the “FIRST Creation Platform” presented by WestK.

KT Yau Ka-hei “The moment 刻”

© Jesse Clockwork

KT Yau Ka-Hei is known for her work that crosses the boundaries of dance, theater, and performance, challenging artistic conventions and provoking thought in her audience. In her research project titled “Life Drawing”, Yau presented her nude body, revealing the complex dynamics between subject and object, and how they differ depending on who was drawing her—whether it was her mother, a past lover, or a portrait artist. Building on this exploration, Yau choreographs and performs this piece, in which she examines a body that refuses to remain a passive object on stage. The dance goes beyond the traditional framework of visual art appreciation, seeking to create a new relationship with the audience and reflecting on the roles of performer and spectator in contemporary dance.

“The moment 刻”
Choreographer, Performer：KT Yau Ka-hei
Dramaturgy, Rehearsal Assistant：Dong Yan
Support：Hong Kong Arts Development Fund

The concept and ideas were conceived and developed from the “FIRST Creation Platform” presented by WestK.

The 6th HOTPOT East Asia Dance Platform

Established in 2017 by three dance festivals in East Asia -City Contemporary Dance Festival (Hong Kong), SIDance (Seoul), Yokohama Dance Collection- to discover and foster fresh talent, the “HOTPOT” marks this year its 6th edition. Eleven choreographers based in East Asia will perform their works and give presentations, and take part in dialogue and exchange programs with programmers coming from around the world.

Organizer：Yokohama Dance Collection, City Contemporary Dance Festival, SIDance
Co-Organizer：YPAM (Yokohama International Performing Arts Meeting)

Chan Wai Lok

Hong Kong choreographer and performer completed his studies in P.A.R.T.S. (Belgium). He also studied in SEAD (Austria) after graduating from the Architecture Studies in the Chinese University of Hong Kong. His recent works include Reverie (2022), Click (2021) and An Auction without Bass (2021) unfolding perspectives in performativity and choreography. Other works include In the Cloud (2022), provoking the audience’s imagination into body movement and performance; and {POV [TWINK / COUPLE (ASIAN) / EXPERIMENTAL]} (2021) and its video version POV, demonstrating the texture and connection between live and video performance.

Democratic interpretation and emancipation in audience has been one of the major genres he has been exploring in his previous solo Everyone knows what it means to think (2019) and his collaboration with Mariana Miranda, /bI’twi:n/ (2019).

He collaborated with various artists including Cristian Duarte, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Meytal Blanaru, KT Yau, Cherry Leung and Joseph Lee. In 2020, he, together with his fellows, established an independent art space, ngau4 gat1 dei6.

www.wailokcwl.com

Larry Shuen

Hong Kong composer, sound artist, and media artist Larry Shuen draws deep inspiration from classical music and his extensive training in musical composition. His works often originate from a profound engagement with music, sounds, and the act of listening itself.

Shuen’s recent works Deer Enclosure and Every Small Sky reflect on his formative experiences with The Greeners’s Sound, a choral society to which he dedicated years of his creative focus. In his collaborative work Goin’ Goin’ with artist Nga-yan Cheng, Shuen explores the superimposed relationships between field recordings, virtual navigation, and the exercising human body. Increasingly, Shuen has been drawn to the creative potential of musicians’ physical gestures, inspiring him to engage closely with choreographers and dancers as a sound designer and interactive media artist. He has expanded his artistic practice to encompass interactive programming, video essays, sound art, installations, performances, and media art – mediums through which he expresses his reflective thoughts on life and the surrounding world.

www.larryshuen.com / https://soundcloud.com/larry-shuen

Li Sze Yeung, Justyne

Li Sze Yeung, Justyne 李思颺 Li is an independent dance artist/choreographer based in Hong Kong. She is a former member of the Hong Kong Ballet and Tanz Graz (Austria) and a soloist with Ballett Bremerhaven (Germany). Li established Neo Dance HK with Wong Tan Ki in 2010. Her recent works include Ode to Joy Evolving with City Contemporary Dance Company and restaging Galatea & Pygmalion with the West Australian Ballet and the Hong Kong Ballet. Li’s talent has been widely recognized, with her choreography Division winning the first prize at the 7th Jerusalem International Choreography Competition. Her dance video Come Rain or Shine also received numerous awards at international dance film festivals. She also received previous Hong Kong Dance Awards, including Outstanding Choreography and Outstanding Performance by a Female Dancer (Galatea X) and Outstanding Achievement in Independent Dance (Galatea & Pygmalion).

Yuen Chak Sum

Yuen Chak Sum was born in Hong Kong and graduated from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 2021, majoring in Contemporary Dance. Currently, he is pursuing further studies at Performact in Portugal. In 2023, he collaborated with the West Kowloon Cultural District and performed in the Movers Platform in Japan, representing Hong Kong. His stage works in 2023 include Solo Together, To Pass On, Avoubis, ‘New Force In Motion’ Series 2023, and other commercial performances. He also released his personal choreographic work, I Can’t Breathe, in 2021. In 2022, he worked full-time as a dancer at the Hong Kong Circus.

Woo Yat Hei

Woo Yat Hei, a Hong Kong dancer, actor and performance-maker. He completed his studies at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts majoring in contemporary dance. During his studies, he collaborated with choreographers such as Kuik Swee Boon, Rick Nodine, Christina Mertzani and John Utans.

As an independent dance artist he has collaborated with various artists across the field of dance, theatre and film. His selected performing works including Joseph Lee’s Unfolding Images: We Are Spectacle(s)(2021), Chan Wai Lok’s Drink and Dance (2021), Théâtre de la Feuille’s The Lost Adults (2021), MW Dance Theatre’s The Formidable Year (2022), Gaybird Leung’s Another 18 Ways of Create or Mute Sound (2022), Samson Young’s TechBox: The Travellers and The Listeners (2023), Adrienn Hód’s Midnight Oil (2023-2024).

He also initiated an interdisciplinary collective in 2024 and started a Border Art research project at San Lau Street, Sha Tau Kok.

KT Yau Ka-hei

KT Yau is a Hong Kong-based independent artist known for her innovative and thought-provoking choreographic works. A former resident choreographer at Unlock Dancing Plaza and a dancer with Y-Space Dance Company from 2013-2014, and she has furthered her dance studies in Israel in 2016.

Her artistic practice has garnered critical acclaim, with Yau receiving several prestigious awards, including the Award for Young Artist (Dance) at the Hong Kong Arts Development Awards (2018) and the Emerging Choreographer Award at the Hong Kong Dance Awards (2018). Her works Unmixed (2018) and Confine (2019) were also nominated for Outstanding Choreography at the Hong Kong Dance Awards, with Unmixed receiving the “Out of the Box” Award at the Nordic Fringe Festival in Gothenburg.

Yau’s choreographic works are marked by a keen exploration of the human condition, often disrupting conventional notions of body, mind, and society. Her works have also been invited for international tours to Sweden, Japan, Singapore, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.