FAR FROM OVER
Excerpt from article on China Daily by Rebecca Lo
Friday February 14, 2020
https://www.chinadailyhk.com/article/121138#Far-from-over
Also poised to unveil his original work, Finding Meaning in an Uncertain World, is London-based Hong Kong choreographer Victor Fung. The original dance would have been part of the ninth edition of the Hong Kong Jockey Club Contemporary Dance Series, a cross-disciplinary collection of performances, at HKAF.
“The Jockey Club, as one of our main sponsors, is willing to follow our lead in terms of when to mount certain productions,” So explains. “We hope to produce shows like Victor’s later this year and far enough apart from next year’s HKAF, which we will be planning concurrently.”
Fung’s choreography is a collaborative effort with dancers Tsang Wing-fai, Kenny Leung, Felix Wong and Christina Chan. “I am increasingly alarmed by the post-truth era in which we find ourselves living,” Fung explains. “As alternate truths and fake news permeate our lives, how are we supposed to find our bearings among such chaos? Finding Meaning is my attempt at thinking through such challenges utilizing the medium of dance. Although it was created for the stage, I am intrigued by the possibility of staging it in a forest where both the audience and performers are kind of lost in the woods.”
Like We Are Gay, Finding Meaning is a call to action. Fung believes that people have a choice whether to accept things as they are or to deep dive into a personal search for truth. “We cannot un-see, un-hear or un-experience something — they become part of us, whether we like it or not,” he believes. “That does not mean that we have to surrender to a passive kind of existence. We are free to exercise our agency in choosing how we act. The work is less about the imperfect world we live in and more about how we choose to live in such a world.”
As Fung hopes to make contemporary dance interesting and accessible to everyone, Finding Meaning incorporates humor and caters to both English- and Cantonese-speaking audiences. “My aspiration for Hong Kong — and beyond — is that people will stand up for the values they believe in,” he says. “Have a good look around. Have a stance. Stay true to yourself and fight for what you believe. Finding Meaning is a piece that requires audiences to choose for themselves… I think that is what makes life worth living.”
Although HKAF is approaching its half-century milestone, programming for a festival of its scale is never simple. “We have to look at the big picture and the small details all at once,” Ho explains. “We try to prepare and communicate as much as possible. Like dating, there are no guarantees. We love what we do. And that is why we do it.”
So feels that local artists reflect societal aspirations, and that is why HKAF pursues ongoing works with burgeoning artists that amplify their voices to a wider audience. “Our programming is not just about entertainment,” he notes. “As an independent producer in the city, we are not limited to one venue, one sponsor or one discipline. We are very flexible. And we are just as concerned about what our artists want to say as well as how they say it. What are our commonalities and differences with the rest of the world? What does Hong Kong want to say at a time when many people in Hong Kong have lost confidence in themselves?”
