IN THE PERFORMING art world's continual search for innovation, traditional lines are being blurred as a new medium - dance video - hits Hong Kong. Jumping Frames, jointly presented by the City Contemporary Dance Company (CCDC) and Videotage, is a project aimed at bringing together lovers of both art forms and introducing the dance video concept to audiences.
The likes of Belgium's Wim Vandekeybus and the DV8 collective in Britain have helped put dance video on the world map. 'Dance video is well developed in Europe, but not here,' says Clementine Chan, CCDC's programme and marketing manager. 'In Hong Kong, there are willing artists, but no presenters, so we needed to initiate this.
'Video is a good medium to promote dance. The screenings are affordable, and Hong Kong audiences are used to the format,' she says. 'Videotage is very experienced in this field, so we got together to mix and match artists for collaboration. Most didn't know each other before we introduced them.'
Choreographer and performer Yuri Ng and video-maker Sebastian Lallemand are two such artists. They've joined forces to create a 40-minute dance sequence for video - one that hasn't been performed before an audience. 'The challenge was how to put movement into frames,' Lallemand says. 'There are so many possibilities.'
'On stage,' says Ng, 'one can choose to see what one wants, though on screen there is more direction to make the viewer see exactly what we want.'
The pair adopted an organic approach to shooting, brainstorming and coming up with a shared vision first and choosing locations to shoot. Ng says he improvised his movements as they shot the video.
'Nothing was set up,' he says. 'I was affected by the space, people, air and smells. It was strange, as I was dancing in public, though it was not meant to be a performance; a very interesting experience.'
