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  • 中
  • Shantou
    Xuzhou
    1945
    1946
    1947
    1948
    1948
    Dance on the Screen, Movement beyond the Lens
    NG SAI-FUN
    A lively character in his 80s, Ng Sai-fun wielded a pair of wooden sticks used in yingge dance. While he said he is good at demonstrating dance, he is even more adept at teaching it. He received training in ballet, and studied folk dance while on the mission of collecting folk materials in China.
    INTERVIEW
    1993
    Toronto
    Guangzhou
    Hong Kong
    An interview of
  • Hong Kong
    Japan
    UK
    New Jersey
    The Cultural Significance of Dance
    JULIE NG
    Julie Ng is the youngest interviewee for the “Research Project—Oral History of Hong Kong Dance Development”. However, as she started her professional career at a young age, the period of her activities in the dance sector overlapped with that of the other interviewees. Ng choreographed numerous dance performances for the film and TV industries;
    INTERVIEW
    1965
    1966
    1970
    1971
    1973
    1980
    1985
    An interview of
  • Hong Kong
    Distinguishing between the Missions of “Dance Practitioner” and “Dance Artist”
    STEPHEN KWOK SAI-NGAI
    Born in 1928, Stephen Kwok was one of the first Chinese males to receive ballet training in Hong Kong, and he is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Hong Kong Dance Federation. Kwok opened his ballet school in the 1960s, which changed the situation of ballet being mainly taught by the foreign teachers after its introduction into Hong Kong. Date of interview: 29 April 2016
    INTERVIEW
    1947
    Mainland, China
    An interview of
  • Shanghai
    North Korea
    Harbin
    Lanzhou
    Hong Kong
    Vancouver
    1956
    1958
    1959
    1962
    1963
    1970
    Passing on Chinese Dance to Future Generations
    LORITA LEUNG
    From her early life in Shanghai and North Korea in the 1950s, through her years in Hong Kong in the 1960s, to her time in Canada where she emigrated to in the 1970s and still resides today, Lorita Leung has embraced a lifelong career in dance.
    INTERVIEW
    An interview of
  • Hong Kong
    Vancouver
    1974
    Untainted Dance in a Convoluted Era
    FLORENCE MO-HAN AW
    Aw joined the Hok Yau Club (HYC) in 1956, and she was the chairperson between 1962 and 1974. The predecessor of the HYC, the Hok Yau Dancing Club, was an arts and cultural organisation active in the 1950s and 1960s. The HYC presented cultural and recreational activities for students and youth, the dance unit of which nurtured a number of dance talents and presented numerous dance performances.
    INTERVIEW
    An interview of
  • Hong Kong
    Guangdong
    Period of Japanese Occupation
    1950
    The Zeitgeist of Dance
    YEUNG WAI-KUI
    Dance came into Yeung’s life when he was a primary school student. He started choreographing in his high school days, and taught dance for adults in a newspaper office by the arrangement of his teacher. Yeung’s solid foundation in dance explained his achievement at the Hok Yau Club (HYC). Yeung was responsible for Chinese dance in the dance unit of the HYC.
    INTERVIEW
    An interview of
  • Hong Kong
    A Lifelong Dedication to Dance
    CHENG WAI-YUNG
    Cheng Wai-yung is a Council Member of the Chinese Dancers’ Association, a member of the Board of Directors and Honorary Chairman of the Hong Kong Dance Federation, Chancellor of Starwave Dance Academy and Artistic Director of Starwave Production. Born in 1936, Cheng is now in her 80s.
    INTERVIEW
    An interview of
  • Hong Kong
    Mainland, China
    France
    1942
    After the 2nd
    Sino-Japanese
    War
    1964
    1968
    Turning Hong Kong into a Dance World
    LAU SIU-MING
    Lau Siu-ming is a familiar name to Hong Kong people. However, his role as a pioneer in Hong Kong dance before he became an active figure in the city’s pop culture is unknown to most. He studied in France, and co-choreographed and performed in La Robe de plumes (Rebirth of the Phoenix) with renowned American ballet dancer Rosella Hightower.
    INTERVIEW
    An interview of
  • Myanmar
    Guangzhou
    Beijing
    Yunnan
    Fujian
    Hong Kong
    1957
    1960
    1961
    1962
    1969
    1973
    Dance is an Art of Team Spirit
    LAU SO-KAM
    Lau So-kam is an overseas Chinese from Burma. In 1957, she moved from her hometown to study in Guangzhou. In 1960 she was transferred to join the Committee of Overseas Chinese Affairs (COCA) Arts Troupe in Beijing by official arrangements. In 1962 she received professional dance training at the Department of Arts at huaqiao daxue (the Overseas Chinese University).
    INTERVIEW
    An interview of
  • Berkshire
    Hong Kong
    1954
    Sixty Years of Blessings
    JOAN CAMPBELL
    Joan Campbell was born in Reading, Berkshire. She came to Hong Kong in her 20s in 1954, and has been living in this city ever since. Hong Kong dance would have gone down a very different path had Campbell landed somewhere else, as she has involved herself in many firsts in Hong Kong, among which most notably was establishing recognition for the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD)’s Ballet in Education syllabus.
    INTERVIEW
    An interview of
NG SAI-FUN
LAU SO-KAM
JULIE NG
JOAN CAMPBELL
LAU SIU-MING
AW MO-HAN
LORITA LEUNG
KWOK SAI-NGAI
CHENG WAI-YUNG
YEUNG WAI-KUI
Editor’s notes
  1. The findings of the “Research Project—Oral History of Hong Kong Dance Development” are published as this website (http://www.dancehistory.hk) and the book – The Unspoken Dance: An Oral History of Hong Kong Dance (1950s-70s). Any updates to the project’s content will be uploaded to this website.
  2. The interviews are arranged according to the order in which they appear in the Chinese edition of this website.
  3. All interviews included in this website were originally conducted in Cantonese, except the interview with Mrs Joan Campbell which was conducted in English. The interviews were reproduced in the form of first-person narratives and recorded in standard written Chinese, and translated into English (along with one interview which was conducted in English). Edited videos of the interviews are uploaded to this website.
  4. To preserve the integrity of the oral history materials provided by the interviewees, changes to the interview content were kept to a minimum. In our endeavour to ensure factual accuracy, the editorial team also referenced other historical materials and included footnotes in support of the texts, where needed. Every possible effort has been made to verify the identities of the persons who appear in the images, and the contents of the images included in this website.
  5. The perspectives of oral history covered in this website are the interviewees’ points of views. The researchers for the project were commissioned to write the critical essays in this book in order to include some extended discussions on the subject. The content of this website does not represent the views of the funding body or the publishers.
  6. In cases in which there is no official English title of a publication, performance or organisation, or where the English title cannot be verified, the Chinese title is transliterated according to the Hanyu Pinyin scheme, followed by the English translation.

City Contemporary Dance Company is financially supported by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

© 2018 The copyright to the content of this website is co-owned by the City Contemporary Dance Company and the researchers

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