Wong Tan-ki and Hong Kong Soul 2024 Present IT'S NOT MY BODY: CHAPTER 3.5 At Edinburgh Fringe

Wong Tan-ki and Dick Wong @ Hong Kong Soul 2024 present: It's Not My Body: Chapter 3.5 as part of HONG KONG SOUL, a double bill of shows exploring the dancer's body, and the body in space and time, at Assembly @ Dance Base, Dance Base 1 2 – 11 Aug 2024 (not 5), 16.05 (17.05).

In a double-bill performance that uses different approaches to interpret the body and dance, two contemporary choreographers grapple with existential questions. In It's Not My Body: Chapter 3.5, Wong Tan-ki wrestles with his own shadow. The dancer's every move, pause and limbo on stage builds a picture of the effect a life in dance has on the artist and their body. A show that has been developed and revised over eight years, the latest chapter sees Wong Tan-ki on stage with just himself and his frenetic, precisely performed movement. This Is by Dick Wong looks to visual art – from  Duchamp to Kosuth to Lewitt – asking what an idea would look like if translated from image to live performance. An interplay of tableau, bodily movement, lighting, sound, text, and space, it plays with the different interpretations of visual art works and the idea that it changes with its wider context.

Wong Tan-ki said, “I am 43 years old now, and after more than 20 years of dancing, I started to feel bored. During the time of Covid and political issues in Hong Kong, it lost some of its meaning. Then, I started learning boxing, the process of the training was like opening another door, I was using my body in totally different way. I felt excited and motivated to move and use my body again. Later on, I went back to my dance work, and I felt my body and my mind had changed. This kind of input made me enjoy dance all over again, and I enjoyed creating and moving again. And that's where It's Not My Body: Chapter 3.5 comes from”

Dick Wong said, “The starting point of this new work was an artwork by conceptual visual artist Joseph Kosove titled One and Three Chairs. When I look at the picture, I thought to myself, what would I do if I wanted to translate the idea behind into a live performance? The thought kept on evolving and one day I decided to give it a go. There were a few keywords when I started, namely perception, association, representation, imagination and context. Context is the most prominent one, I think all images have more than one context. I want to take the audience on a trip with a mind map of meanings, associations, imaginations and reflections. Sometimes I broaden them out, sometimes I narrow them down, sometimes I present them as it is, and sometimes with twists and turns. The piece is kind of like an unfinished sentence and word unfinished, somehow implied possibilities or uncertainty.”

Wong Tan-ki currently works as a freelance dancer, teacher, choreographer and multimedia designer. His creation Division was awarded the 1st prize at the 7th Jerusalem International Choreography Competition. His other creation Galatea & Pygmalion received Hong Kong Dance Award for Outstanding Achievement in independent Dance in 2011 and Galatea X received the Outstanding Choreography in 2014. Wong himself had received the Award for Young Artist at The Hong Kong Arts Development Awards in 2015 . He also got the 3rd place of male solo in IDO World Tap Dance world Championships 2012. His video work Come Rain Or Shine got the Outstanding Cinematography Award & Outstanding Film Award in Manifest Dance-film Festival 2022.

A graduate of Journalism, Dick Wong left the publishing industry in the mid 90s to pursue a career in contemporary dance and theatre. In 2004, he was commissioned by the Hong Kong Arts Festival to create B.O.B, which was later developed into two versions and toured extensively in Europe and Asia until 2017. He was chosen as a laureate of the French International Residence Programme at Recollets in 2010 and presented 1+ 1 in Cartier Fondation during his stay in Paris. Commissioned by the In Transit Festival, he premiered Be Me in Berlin's Haus der Kulturen der Welt in 2011. More recent works include 0|2 (2014), a collaboration with Xing Liang, The World According to Dance (2015), a dance/theatre work on four generations of contemporary dance makers in Hong Kong and The Rite of Spring (2016－17). He was named Artist of the Year (Dance) in the Hong Kong Arts Development Awards 2018.

Hong Kong Soul is a contemporary platform created by TS Crew to showcase the diversity and unique talents of Hong Kong artists. Shows at last year's successful pilot included No Dragon No Lion, Diary VII: The Story of...... and Fall and Flow. This year, they're presenting three shows: No Dragon No Lion (C venues), It's Not My Body: Chapter 3.5 / This Is at Dance Base, and Must I Cry (Paradise at Augustines).

Running Time: 60 mins | Suitable for ages 12+

Dance Base, Studio 1, 14-16 Grassmarket, Edinburgh EH1 2JU

2 – 11 Aug (not 5) 16.05 – 17.05

2 – 6, 9 - 11 £15 (£14 concs)

7 - 8 £14 (£13 concs)

www.dancebase.co.uk | 0131 225 5525

To post a comment, you must register and login.