Pa | Ethos & Dancing Philosophy

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Succeeding the work-in-progress video creation of M.U.D. – Movement UnDefined 2022, City Contemporary Dance Company (CCDC) is launching another cross-disciplinary production in dance season Dance Mud Spring: Pa | Ethos & Dancing Philosophy. The first half of the production is CCDC’s Residence Choreographer Sang Jijia’s dance work of pure physical movements, while the second half is Corrupt the Youth’s lecture performance, a debut collaboration with CCDC. They prompt a dialogue between dance and philosophy: boundaries vanish in the two dance creations, where the audience can explore the possibilities between movement and stillness, as well as questioning the essences of dance.

‘Tableaux’ and ‘keep dancing’ use the body and the mind as the medium respectively. CCDC juxtaposes these two works contrasting in style and perspective, inviting new and existing audiences to appreciate this cross- disciplinary production and open up different senses to keep the body and mind dancing and questioning constantly.

Pa | Ethos: Toured internationally for 11 Times; Asian Dancers Reshaping the Poetic Pinnacle of the Body
Pa | Ethos, work of pure dance movements, was created by CCDC’s Resident Choreographer Sang Jijia. The dancers’ articulate physicality and exquisite emotional sensibility, coupled with composer Dickson Dee’s gripping, spirited electronic music, re-sculpts the physical capacity and poetry of the body. The work’s inspirations came from the fundamental concept of ‘Pathos’ in Aristotle’s masterpiece Art of Rhetoric, as well as the popular street sculpture art in Greece. With a pure white facade, the dancers are going to set free their bountiful primal passion amid the optimum rhythm.

The work had its world premiere at Fabbrica Europa per le arti contemporanee in Italy by Spellbound Contemporary Ballet in 2015. It has toured 11 times in multiple cities in Mainland China and overseas, having appeared in Guangdong Dance Festival in China, Oriente Occidente Dance Festival and Prospettiva Danza in Italy. Unlike the executions by Western dancers, the CCDC dance artists in this special version of Hong Kong premiere are going to bring a different look to this aesthetic-oriented piece with the unique body language shared by Asians. They are going to unveil a brand of aestheticism in an Oriental-meets-Occident contemporary dance performance on the local stage.

“Classical philosophy, oriental thought, electronic music and dance come together in a refined and passionate show.”
— Marche Teatro

Dancing Philosophy: Corrupt the Youth’s Debut Cross-Disciplinary Dance Creation; Posing Questions About the Essences of Dance and the Present
The second half of the production is Dancing Philosophy, created and performed by local Philosophy study group Corrupt the Youth and stage directed by CCDC Artistic Director Yuri Ng. In this lecture performance, they will explore the boundaries between dance and philosophy with the audience. Through publishing popular philosophy articles and conducting online and offline discussions, Corrupt the Youth has been pursuing with readers knowledge and theories in art, humanities and the world at large. Yuri Ng has invited the group’s nine members to conduct a series of workshops, having a dialectical dialogue on the essence of dance by means of movements and thoughts. This will also bring the audience an alternative viewing perspective and experience of contemporary dance.

Philosophers question and debate unceasingly. When nine philosophers and a dance artist exchange ideas dynamically in the form of ‘keep talking, keep dancing’, how would they strike sparks off one another? What is dance? What is contemporary dance? What is the contemporary dance that belongs to this city? There are perhaps no model answers to these questions – they may not even be questions exactly. When philosophers start dancing, we will pull down the barrier containing established concepts and move towards the possibilities between thinking and dancing.

Duration is approximately 2 hours with 15-minute intermission

Performed in Cantonese with no surtitles

Audience of aged 6 or above are welcomed