[中][ENG] 總監主場 Artistic Director's Home: 郭偉傑 Ken Kwok
總監主場
Artistic Director's Home
郭偉傑 Ken Kwok
R&T創團人/藝術總監R&T Founder & Art Director
翻譯Translation: Tiffany Wong
踢躂舞自上世紀九十年代起，由敏迪貝蒂（Mandy Petty）在香港演藝學院開始教授，至今在香港已經有二十多年歷史。因爲熱愛舞蹈的緣故，我在演藝學院修讀音樂劇舞期間學習多種舞蹈，當中包括芭蕾舞、現代舞、中國舞、民族舞、爵士舞及踢躂舞。
Tap dance was brought to the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) in the 1990s by Mandy Petty, and has over two decades of history in Hong Kong. Owing to my love and passion for dance, I practiced and studied a variety of dance genres including ballet, modern, Chinese, folk, jazz and tap when I majored in Musical Theatre Dance at HKAPA.
畢業後加入香港舞蹈團，成為全職舞蹈員，主要表演中國舞。機緣巧合下離開舞蹈團到法國進修舞蹈，回港後以踢躂舞為最終發展方向。為何選擇了踢躂舞？除了喜歡踢躂舞的節奏感外，也因為當時香港演藝學院舞蹈學院已沒再開設音樂劇舞主修，踢躂舞亦失去了專業的訓練平台，為了在香港繼續推廣踢躂舞這個舞種，我決定成立R&T（Rhythm & Tempo），延續香港的踢躂舞發展。
After graduation, I joined the Hong Kong Dance Company and became a full-time professional dancer, focusing on Chinese dance. Later, after I left the company to further my dance studies in France, I decided to pursue a path in tap dance when I returned to Hong Kong. Why tap? Other than my fondness for the sense of rhythm in tap, it was also because at that time the Musical Theatre Dance major was dropped at HKAPA, meaning there was no longer a professional training platform for tap. To continue promoting tap as a dance genre in Hong Kong, I founded R&T (Rhythm & Tempo), so that Hong Kong’s tap dance scene could carry on growing
R&T成立初時，主要製作小型的踢躂舞劇場，以及康樂及文化事務署的文化大使街頭演出，希望令香港觀眾認識到什麼是踢躂舞，從而產生興趣，學習踢躂舞及購票入劇場欣賞。相比起十年前，很多觀眾不知道什麼叫做踢躂舞；發展到現在，香港觀眾大多數都對踢躂舞有了基本認識。
In the beginning, R&T mainly produced small-scale tap dance theatre and street performances under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department’s Community Cultural Ambassador Scheme. We wanted to show people in Hong Kong what tap dance is, to spark their interest and inspire more of them to study tap and watch tap shows in theatres. Compared to a decade ago, when most of the local audience had no idea what tap was, now the majority have gained a general sense of what tap is.
《哥仔姐仔「躂」著火》Brothers & Sisters Tap on Fire ；照片由郭偉傑提供 Photo provided by Ken Kwok
對我來說，香港是一個中西匯聚的大城市，你在香港可以接觸及欣賞到不同的舞蹈藝術，但另一方面香港亦是一個藝術文化沙漠，在推動及創作舞蹈藝術方面不及其他國家發展得快。在世界各地要發展舞蹈藝術都是十分困難，在香港更加是難上加難。這個城市主要以金融商業為主，往往都是利益先行，衣食住行及所有物價指數冠絕全球，所有本 土藝術工作者都需要花很多時間賺取生活費，尤其踢躂舞在香港屬於少數的舞蹈，所以在發展方面就更加困難。經過多年的努力，R&T在2014年成為藝發局的年度資助團體，希望藉此讓踢躂舞這種舞蹈藝術，能在香港繼續發展及普及。
To me, Hong Kong is a cosmopolitan city where East meets West, one can be exposed to different types of dance here, yet then again, Hong Kong is also a cultural desert for the arts, we never catch up with other parts of the world when it comes to promoting and creating works in dance. To develop dance art is hard enough in most countries, however it is even harder in Hong Kong. With finance and commerce as the city’s main industries, making a profit always comes first. Being in one of the world’s most expensive cities to live in, in terms of its price index, local artists have to spend a lot of time working to earn a living, especially tap, being a minority dance genre in Hong Kong, faces even more severe obstacles to develop further. After years of hard work, R&T received Hong Kong Arts Development Council’s Year Grant in 2014, and we hope through this to continue the development of tap in Hong Kong and popularise the genre here.
香港舞蹈藝術於資源分配方面，除了三大舞團外，資源多數著重在現代舞上，但百花齊放，總好過曇花一現。要成立一個舞蹈團及持續發展是一件困難的事，過往見證到很多有心創作的人因資源問題，只創作了一兩次舞台作品後就消失於這個劇場。香港的舞蹈藝術往往比其他國家起步快但發展慢，相信有些同業亦認同我這個講法，希望藝發局及康文署能夠給予少數舞種多一些資源及資助，而在不久的將來本土舞蹈藝術能夠有百花齊放的一天。
In Hong Kong’s dance scene, the distribution of resources mainly goes to modern dance, apart from that allocated to the three flagship dance companies. Yet, it’s always better to have all kinds of flowers flourish long term than have some only blossom briefly. It is very difficult to establish a dance company and be able to sustain it. I have witnessed a lot of passionate creators disappearing from the theatres after one or two productions, owing to this problem of inadequate resources. Compared to other countries, dance in Hong Kong has developed slowly despite an early start, as I believe a number of my fellow dance artists would strongly agree. I hope that the Hong Kong Arts Development Council and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department will offer more resources and sponsorship to minority dance genres, so that the local dance scene can blossom continuously in a range of genres in the near future.
《哥仔姐仔「躂」著火》Brothers & Sisters Tap on Fire ；照片由郭偉傑提供 Photo provided by Ken Kwok
在藝術創作方面，香港觀眾對於踢躂舞認識不是很深，所以在創作方面有時需要由淺入深，加入一些戲劇或歌舞元素先吸引觀眾，之後再帶他們深入了解踢躂舞的舞蹈藝術。R&T主要以踢躂舞融合香港的本土文化去創作舞蹈作品，大多以平日生活上接觸的事和物為主，例如：鵝頸橋打小人、生活用品砂煲罌罉、膠水桶及過馬路時的滴答聲等等。始終香港觀眾喜歡新鮮的事物，要深入了解一種舞蹈藝術往往需要花上一段較長的時間。R&T希望香港的觀眾能從我們的創作中吸收到「藝術源於生活」與「一生一藝術」的理念，明白生活節奏亦如踢躂舞的節奏一樣變化多端。
In terms of artistic work, Hong Kong audiences do not possess a deep understanding of tap dance. We therefore have to proceed step by step in our creative processes, adding drama or musical elements to first attract the audience, then bring them into a deeper appreciation of tap as a genre of dance. R&T focuses on combining tap dance with Hong Kong’s local culture in our works, utilising objects and happenings that we encounter in our daily lives, such as the “petty person beating” rituals underneath the Canal Road Flyover, household utensils such as pots and containers, plastic water buckets and the ticking of traffic lights. After all, Hong Kong audiences are attracted more to things that express novelty instantly, longer period of time is needed for them to develop a deeper understanding of any form of dance art. Through its creative works, R&T wishes to spread the concept of “art comes from life” and “one art for one life”, to show the Hong Kong audience that the rhythm of life can be as dynamic as the rhythm of tap dance.
R&T舞蹈團已成立了十一年，其藝術方向除了繼續創作富本港特色的踢躂舞外，還會與不同的音樂人合作。踢躂舞是一種「聽得見的舞蹈；看得見的音樂」，與音樂息息相關。我們希望能與不同的音樂藝術家，創作出屬香港獨特的踢躂舞，尋求視覺及聽覺上更多的突破，啟發觀眾對舞蹈及音樂的興趣。
It has been eleven years since the founding of R&T. Apart from continuing to create tap dance works with local character, we also plan to collaborate with various musicians. Tap dance is closely related to music – it is “dance you can hear; music you can see”. We anticipate working with different music artists, creating a unique style of tap that belongs to Hong Kong, searching for more breakthroughs visually and aurally and enlightening audience’s eyes and ears towards dance and music.
