[中] [ENG] LEGACY, HERITAGE AND THE HONG KONG DANCE AWARDS

momoko91
Jul 14
13 min read

Text: Natasha Rogai

Legacy & Heritage is the theme of this year’s Hong Kong Dance Awards (the Awards). Since they began in 1999 the Awards have themselves become part of the legacy of the dance sector, offering a precious record of its leading lights and their achievements.

Hong Kong is notorious for neglecting or forgetting its heritage. Buildings are torn down, iconic local traditions like street hawkers are disappearing, land in the New Territories which held small farms 30 years ago is now covered by residential tower blocks.

Of course, much of this change represents real progress in the quality of life, yet other places have succeeded in achieving such progress without discarding their culture or ceasing to value their past.

The Hong Kong dance sector is no exception to this tendency. Major recent anniversaries include the 45^th of Hong Kong Ballet (HKB) and City Contemporary Dance Company (CCDC) and the 40^th of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (APA). Yet, even while such organizations celebrate these milestones, it’s hard to find detailed records of their history and how they have evolved over the years.

Efforts are now being made to redress this, notably by CCDC, whose publication in 2019 of The Unspoken Dance¹ preserves invaluable oral history from Hong Kong’s dance pioneers and deservedly received the Award for Services to Dance.

In this context, the Awards play an important role as a record of how dance has developed in Hong Kong, through honouring those who have driven that development and the outstanding work they have produced.

In 2001 the Distinguished Achievement Award was created to honour individuals who have made significant contributions to the long-term development of dance in Hong Kong. The first recipient was Jean Wong and those who have followed over the years are a roll-call of names who have inspired and transformed the dance sector – among them Helen Lai, Joan Campbell, Pearl Chan, Stephen Jefferies, Mui Cheuk-yin, Yuri Ng, Daniel Yeung and Anna Chan.

In 2016 the Lifetime Achievement Award was added to pay tribute to the ‘unsung heroes’ of Hong Kong dance, notably educators – recipients include Shen Shir Ming, Tania Tang, Mandy Petty and Sylvia Wu. It has also been used as a memorial award, honouring the passing of Ringo Chan in 2017 and Tom Brown in 2019 - this year it will be presented in memory of Carl Wolz.

Until 2009 the Awards were decided by the Alliance board, with members putting forward nominations and agreement being reached through voting or simply debate. It’s worth noting that, however they were decided, the Awards in that era were well deserved, covering different genres of dance and recognising genuinely outstanding achievements by artists who we remember with pleasure and pride.

In 2009 a Dance Awards Working Group was set up, led by Tom Brown, of which I was a member. Our mission was to review the Awards and come up with a fair, transparent process based on clear rules. Finally, after months of proposals, counter-proposals and discussions (sometimes heated!) the new system was launched at the 2010 Awards. The key elements introduced included:

- a two round voting system with expert panels voting on all nominations to determine shortlists and an expanded jury voting on the shortlists to decide the Awards;

- publicising the shortlists to give outstanding nominees more recognition (e.g. similar to Oscar nominations);

- establishing specific categories for the nominations;

- ensuring fairness through secret ballot voting and not allowing jurors to vote on categories where they have conflict of interest.

The Awards are a work in progress and over the years we have continued to make changes – learning from experience (and it seems that every year yet another unforeseen dilemma arises) - and continually seeking ways to improve.

The categories in particular have evolved - in 2010 there were nine, today there are 16. Some have been added or expanded while others have been dropped or revised.

For example, from 2010 to 2016, two awards for overall achievement in production – Production and Independent Dance Production – were presented. However, in view of concerns that ‘independent’ was not the right designation, in 2017 this was changed to Small, Medium and Large Venue Production.

The Alliance had always wanted to have an award for rising choreographers but determining the criteria – should it be based on age, number of works, etc - was the subject of much debate and it wasn’t until 2018 that a definition was agreed and KT Yau Ka-hei became the first Emerging Choreographer.

The award was re-named the Tom Brown Emerging Choreographer the following year and it is impossible to talk about the Awards without talking about Tom, especially for those of us who worked with him. His passion for dance in all its forms and unwavering support for those who work in dance were nowhere more evident than in his championing and leadership of the Awards.

The first Awards presentation in 1999 was a low key affair with a few people getting together at a restaurant. It wasn’t until 2004 that the first Awards Gala Performance took place. These galas became a landmark in the local dance calendar, helmed by artistic directors like Yang Yuntao, Ong Yong Lock, Anh Ngoc Nguyen and Hu Song-wei Ricky.

In researching this article, I came across the house programme for that very first Awards Gala and would like to share Tom’s introduction, which expresses so beautifully the essence of dance and why the Awards are important.

I attended that Awards Gala in 2004 - the second, in 2005, is especially memorable for my first sight of Helen Lai’s work (an extract from Comedy of K) not to mention my 83 year old mother, who had become a Hong Kong film fan, being thrilled to shake hands with Aaron Kwok Fu Sing (he, on the other hand, was rather bemused by this elderly foreign lady telling him how excited she was to meet the Barefooted Kid 赤腳小子!).

In those days I was just a lover of dance with no professional involvement in the sector – it wasn’t until September 2005 that I became the dance critic of the South China Morning Post. When I went to that first Awards Gala, I would never have dreamed that a few years later I’d be a member of the Alliance board and would find myself working on a major revamp of the Awards as a member of the Dance Awards Working Group.

This year, for their 26^th edition, the Awards return to the Fringe Club which was the Awards venue in 2003. While holding the event at such a heritage site for dance is fitting in this Legacy & Heritage year, for the first time in more than 20 years (other than the hiatus during the pandemic), due to funding cuts the Awards will be presented without a Gala Performance. ( Info confirmed that the first gala performance was in 2004, and it also confirmed that it took place at the Fringe Club in 2003). Some people may feel this isn’t important, but I believe they are missing the point: for over two decades the Awards Gala has not just been a joyous get-together for the community but has played a unique role in showcasing the diversity of dance in Hong Kong along with the creativity of its equally diverse artistic directors.

As an ordinary dance lover, attending those galas in 2004 and 2005 opened my eyes to the richness and variety of dance in Hong Kong, something for which I will always be grateful.

These are tough times in Hong Kong, in China and around the world. Let us hope that our extraordinary city will yet again prove its resilience and fortitude and that when the phoenix rises from the ashes, funding for our local artists will again be high on the agenda.

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Natasha Rogai

Natasha Rogai has lived in Hong Kong since 1997. She is the dance critic of the South China Morning Post, Co-Chair of the Production Panel of the Awards and a former Vice-Chair of the Alliance. In 2017 she received the Award for Services to Dance.

Footnote:

1) The Unspoken Dance: An Oral History of Hong Kong Dance (1950s-70s)’ by Joanna Lee Hoi-yin, Lam Heyee, Edited by Miu Law (Chinese), Nicolette Wong (English). Co-published by City Contemporary Dance Company, International Association of Theatre Critics (Hong Kong). (2019)

Extra Column: Introduction to Carl Wolz -- Lifetime Achievement Award

In this year when the theme of the Hong Kong Dance Awards is Legacy & Heritage, the Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to honour the memory of Carl Wolz, highlighting the commitment of the Hong Kong Dance Alliance (the Alliance) to preserving the history and honouring the pioneers of dance.

Dancer, choreographer, scholar and educator, Wolz was a passionate advocate for dance and for cross-cultural exchange between Asia and the West. He was instrumental in the creation of the World Dance Alliance, of which the Alliance is proud to be a founding member and presenting this award is particularly fitting as the Alliance celebrates its 30^th anniversary.

As the first Dean of Dance at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA), Wolz played a key role in the development of dance in Hong Kong in the 1980s and 1990s. His influence and visionary ideas live on today through those he taught and those he worked with.

Wolz was born in St Louis Missouri in 1932 and as a young man served in the US Navy during the Korean War. After his war service he studied art history at the University of Chicago and developed an interest in dance which led to his studying at the Juilliard School in New York and eventually becoming a dancer with the Lucas Hoving Company.

In 1962 a scholarship took him to study Asian dance at the University of Hawaii where he was to spend the next 20 years. He earned a Master’s degree in Asian studies, became fluent in Japanese and directed the university’s dance programme.

In 1982 he moved to Hong Kong as a consultant for the establishment of the HKAPA and was appointed the academy’s first Dean of Dance.

In 1990 he founded the Asia-Pacific Dance Alliance, which was eventually to become the World Dance Alliance. He served as President of the Asia-Pacific Division and later as Executive Director of the Executive Council.

Wolz’s deep affinity with Asia led him to focus on promoting exchange between Western and Asian dance communities. He wrote numerous scholarly articles on Asian dance and published two books: Bugaku: Japanese Court Dance and Chinese Classical Dance.

In 1993 he left Hong Kong to take up a professorship in Japan and five years later moved back to the USA, where he remained until his death in 2002.

香港舞蹈年獎的留存與傳承

文：羅佳娜

譯：Eva Kan

今年香港舞蹈年獎（下稱舞蹈年獎）的主題為「留存與傳承」。舞蹈年獎自1999年設立以來，已成為舞蹈界傳統的一部分，標誌著各業界翹楚的成就並為他們存留寶貴記錄。

香港對傳統文化的忽視與遺忘，常為人所詬病。建築物被拆卸、別具特色的本地傳統如街頭小販正在消失、30年前的新界小型農場現已被住宅大樓覆蓋。

當然，大部分變化代表生活水平實際有所提升，但其他地方在取得同等進步的同時，仍能保存文化、珍惜歷史。

在這種趨勢下，香港舞蹈界亦難以倖免。近期重要的周年誌慶包括香港芭蕾舞團和城市當代舞蹈團慶祝成立 45 周年，以及香港演藝學院慶祝成立 40 周年。正當我們慶祝這些里程碑，但卻難以追溯舞團與學院詳細的歷史記載及演變過程。

目前，業界正積極彌補不足，特別是城市當代舞蹈團。舞團於 2019 年出版《拾舞話》¹ ，保存來自香港舞蹈界前輩彌足珍貴的口述歷史，獲頒「傑出舞蹈服務」，可謂實至名歸。

在這個背景下，舞蹈年獎擔當重要角色，透過表揚推動香港舞蹈發展的人士以及其優秀作品，記錄香港舞蹈發展的歷程。

「傑出成就獎」於2001年設立，旨在表揚對香港舞蹈長遠發展作出重大貢獻的藝術家。首位得獎者為王仁曼，而歷年的得獎者皆是為舞蹈界帶來啟發及革新的代表人物，包括黎海寧、鍾金寶（Joan Campbell）、陳寶珠、謝傑斐（Stephen Jefferies）、梅卓燕、伍宇烈、楊春江及陳頌瑛。

2016年增設「終身成就獎」，以表彰香港舞蹈界的「無名英雄」，特別是致力於教育工作者。獲獎者包括沈雪明、鄧孟妮、敏廸貝蒂（Mandy Petty）和吳報釧。此獎項亦為紀念獎，於2017年和2019年分別紀念已故的陳德昌及白朗唐（Tom Brown），而今年的獎項將向已故的胡善佳（Carl Wolz）致敬。

2009年之前，舞蹈年獎的評選由香港舞蹈聯盟（下稱舞盟）的理事委員會負責，通過成員提名作品或人選，並經投票或辯論達成共識。值得注意的是，無論採用何種評選方式，那個時代的獎項都是實至名歸的，不僅涵蓋了不同類型的舞蹈，也肯定了藝術家真實而傑出的成就，回想起來仍讓人倍感喜悅與自豪。

2009年，舞蹈年獎工作小組成立，由白朗唐領導，而我則是小組其中一員。我們的任務是審視舞蹈年獎，並訂立有具清晰規則且公平、透明的評選機制。經過多個月的建議、反建議和討論 (有時甚至是激烈的討論！)，新的評選制度最終於2010年舞蹈年獎啟動，引入的主要元素包括：

採用兩輪投票制，由專家評審團對所有提名進行投票，以確定入圍名單，然後由擴大的評審團對入圍名單進行投票，以決定最終獲獎者；

公布入圍名單，對傑出的被提名者給予更多肯定（類似於奧斯卡提名的做法）；

設立特定的提名類別；

進行不記名投票，以確保公平性，並且不允許評審團成員對其存在利益衝突的類別進行投票。

舞蹈年獎是一個持續進行的項目，多年來我們不斷改進——汲取經驗（而似乎每年都會出現另一個始料不及的挑戰），並不斷尋求完善的方法。

獎項類別尤其如此，一直不斷演進。2010年設有九個獎項類別，而現今增至16個。有些類別被新增或擴充，另一些則被刪除或修訂。

例如，從2010年到2016年，年獎有兩個表彰製作整體成就的獎項——舞蹈製作獎和獨立舞蹈製作獎。後來，鑒於有人關注「獨立」並非合適的獎項名稱，該獎項於2017年更名為小型、中型及大型場地舞蹈製作獎。

舞盟一直希望設立一個獎項以表揚新晉編舞，但評選準則（如基於年齡或作品數量），引發了不少爭議。直至2018年才達成共識，邱加希成為首位新晉編舞獎得主。

次年，該獎項更名為「白朗唐新晉編舞獎」。提到舞蹈年獎，就必須提到白朗唐，特別是對於我們這些曾與他並肩共事的人而言。他對不同舞蹈形式的熱忱，以及對舞蹈工作者的堅定支持，深刻體現在他推動和領導舞蹈年獎的過程之中。

1999年首屆舞蹈年獎頒獎禮規模不大，僅有少數人在餐廳聚會。直到2004年，才舉辦了首屆匯演暨頒獎禮。此後，這些匯演成為本地舞蹈界盛事，並由楊雲濤、王榮祿、阮日廣（Anh Ngoc Nguyen）及胡頌威等藝術總監執導。

在為撰寫本文搜集資料時，我偶然發現了首屆匯演暨頒獎禮的場刊，並想分享白朗唐的序言。這篇序言優美地闡述了舞蹈的精髓，以及舞蹈年獎的深遠意義。

我曾出席2004年首屆匯演，但2005年第二屆匯演更讓我難忘。那是我第一次欣賞到黎海寧的作品（《畸人說夢》的選段）。更不用說我那位已是香港電影迷的83歲母親，她可以與郭富城握手（而郭富城面對這位見到「赤腳小子」表達無比興奮的外籍老太太，則感到有些茫然！）。

當時我只是一名熱愛舞蹈的觀眾，尚未涉足任何與業界相關的專業工作。直至2005年9月，我成為《南華早報》的舞評人。當我欣賞首屆舞蹈年獎匯演時，從未想過幾年後，我會成為舞盟的委員，並且加入舞蹈年獎工作小組，參與推動重大改革。

今年，第26屆舞蹈年獎頒獎禮將重返藝穗會舉行，此地點亦是2003年頒獎禮的舉辦場地。在這座文化古蹟舉辦是次頒獎禮，固然契合今年「留存與傳承」的主題。然而，由於資助削減，（除了疫情期間的間斷）這是頒獎禮20多年來首次不設匯演。（已確認首屆匯演於2004年舉行，而2003年的頒獎禮於藝穗會舉行。）有些人或許認為這一變化無關緊要，但我認為他們忽略了匯演的核心價值：在過去20多年，匯演不僅是舞蹈業界歡聚一堂的盛會，更承載著展示香港舞蹈多樣性和藝術總監豐富創意的獨特使命。

身為一個平凡的舞蹈愛好者，能夠參與2004年和2005年的匯演，讓我大開眼界，見證了香港舞蹈的豐富與多元，對此，我始終心懷感激。

如今，無論是香港、中國，還是世界各地，都正經歷艱難時期。我們期盼這座非凡的城市——香港，能夠保持韌性與堅毅。而當鳳凰從灰燼中浴火重生之時，希望資助本地藝術家的重要性，能被重新置於首位。

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Natasha Rogai

Footnote:

特別專欄：Carl Wolz簡介——終身成就獎

今年香港舞蹈年獎以「傳承與留存」為主題，而終身成就獎將頒予已故的胡善佳先生，以紀念他對舞蹈藝術的貢獻，同時彰顯香港舞蹈聯盟（下稱「聯盟」）致力保存舞蹈歷史、致敬舞蹈先鋒的精神。

身兼舞者、編舞家、學者與教育家，胡善佳先生一生與舞蹈結下不解之緣；他積極推動亞洲與西方之間的文化交流。他在世界舞蹈聯盟的創立過程中扮演關鍵角色，而香港舞蹈聯盟正是該組織的創始成員之一。今年適逢聯盟成立三十週年，值此時刻，授予此獎項深具意義。

作為香港演藝學院首任舞蹈學院院長，胡善佳在1980至1990年代對香港舞蹈發展有著重大影響。由他過往的學生、曾共事的同事，仍然秉持著他的遠見，延續他的理念。

胡善佳於1932年出生於美國密蘇里州聖路易斯，韓戰期間，年輕的胡善佳曾服役於美國海軍。退伍後，他於芝加哥大學（University of Chicago ）主修藝術史，期間開始對舞蹈產生濃厚興趣，進而赴紐約茱莉亞學院（Juilliard School ）深造，並加入Lucas Hoving舞團擔任舞者。

1962年，他獲獎學金前往夏威夷大學（University of Hawaii）研習亞洲舞蹈，自此展開長達二十年的教學與研究生涯。他在當地取得亞洲研究碩士學位，精通日語，並擔任大學舞蹈課程的主任。

1982年，他受邀來港協助創立香港演藝學院，及後，成為首任舞蹈學院院長，開啟了舞蹈教育的新篇章。

1990年，胡善佳創立亞太舞蹈聯盟，後來發展為世界舞蹈聯盟。他曾擔任亞太區主席，並出任執行委員會執行總監。

胡善佳對亞洲有著深厚情感，致力於促進亞洲與西方舞蹈界的交流。他撰寫多篇亞洲舞蹈相關的學術文章，並出版兩本專書：《舞樂：日本宮廷舞蹈》（Bugaku: Japanese Court Dance）與《中國古典舞》（Chinese Classical Dance)。

1993年，胡善佳離開香港，赴日本擔任大學教授；五年後返回美國，直至2002年辭世。