The City Contemporary Dance Company (CCDC) kicks off its 30th anniversary with a new piece inspired by Krzysztof Kieslowski movies. Choreographer Helen Lai Hoi-ling says her latest work, No End, is more about the emotions evoked by watching the Polish director's works than their themes.

'It's a real challenge to express something so abstract using a physical language and movement ... but I will also be using Zbigniew Preisner's Requiem for My Friend to help with the expression. The dance is more like a requiem now.'

Preisner is a close collaborator of the late filmmaker and composed the film scores for classics such as The Decalogue, The Double Life of Veronique and the Three Colours Trilogy: Blue, White, Red.

In the mid-1990s, the composer was working on a new concert piece when Kieslowski died, in 1996. He changed the focus of the work by combining the operatic concert with a requiem written in the memory of the director.

The final composition is in two parts: Requiem and Life, both consisting of nine movements or episodes. It is the former that Lai is using for No End.

The CCDC resident choreographer says the atmospheric Requiem is apt for her tribute to Kieslowski: 'For me, the piece holds many themes including the uncertainties of life, death, alienation and pain and I want to convey these emotions in movement.' She says the music also helps structure the 90-minute performance, which is divided logically into segments. It will feature all 15 CCDC dancers.

Chan Yi Jing (above) says rehearsing for the piece has been challenging because much of it is in free form. There is no set choreography to follow and each dancer contributes to the overall work.

'The dancers are given exercises to generate ideas. So Helen would give us a theme of, say, memories and each of us had to come up with movements that are individually unique. She would then select the movements that best fit the overall choreography,' he says.

'The most challenging part was we were not sure what was required at times and the working process could be a little at haphazard. Having said that, the task Helen asked us to do did hint at what she wanted and the direction she was heading. There was a lot of experimenting and improvising.'

Chan says he was initially worried because he had not seen any of Kieslowski's movies but was reassured that the piece is not a direct reference to the director and his life.

Working with Lai has been a good learning experience, he says. 'Helen's work requires much input from dancers and the process helps us to become more aware of ourselves and in tune with the choreographer's needs.'

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