Dominic Wong
Local dancer and choreographer Dominic Wong left his TV career for modern dance—and has since won plenty of awards for his efforts. In his studio, he tells Leanne Mirandilla about his thoughts on dance and choreography.
HK Magazine: What made you decide to leave your TV career for dance?
Dominic Wong: When I stepped into the TV field, I wanted to explore a new, big world. When I studied in high school I liked drama very much—I always wanted to take the role of Superman or a policeman. I got a contract in TV, and I worked in TV for around two years. When I worked with the TV company, some things worked for me and some things were not good for me. I needed to spend a lot of energy to make friends, go drinking and [out for dinner]—it was strange for me. I just focused on performing—I loved it very much. Then, my friend asked me if I could go with him to take a dance course on musical theater. He said, “You go, I’ll pay.” So I said yes, no problem! After that, I felt that dance was quite interesting because it was a different way to express myself—without any verbal [component]. I felt very released in the space, with the music, with my body language. I knew that the Academy of Performing Arts was having auditions for their coming year’s students. I was still young, so I made the big decision to give up my job and go to study dance in 1992. I was lucky and the APA accepted me. After a year at the APA, I knew what dance was and I knew what way my life would go. I love dance very much, so after graduating I went straight to the City Contemporary Dance Company and have been working here until now.
HK: You’re a dancer but also a choreographer—what is the relationship between the two for you?
DW: One is like the North Pole and the other is like the South Pole. When I perform, I just jump in a big space and enjoy myself. But when I’m the choreographer, I create a space for my dancers. It’s more challenging to be a choreographer. My role [doesn’t just involve] one thing—I need to create movement and I need to know how to construct, like a building.
HK: Do you have a preference for modern dance over other types of dance?
DW: I chose modern dance because it goes along with my life and the feeling it gives me is more real and alive. For ballet, lots of it is decoration. There are lots of limitations and boundaries—“Hold up your torso, long leg, make more turns.” For a dancer, training in the classical things is very important. Classical training is how you become a great dancer. But modern dance attracts me because [it teaches me] how to use my body language to express myself and tell a story. With classical ballet, I love to watch those performance—everything is graceful and beautiful. Afterwards, I can just go out to dinner and drinks. But if I see a modern dance performance, I will stay with the performance and think of lots of questions.
HK: Can you tell us a little bit about your upcoming show?
DW: Whenever I make a new work, I like to explore new places and new roles. For example, in the coming show “Blind Chance,” I will show some hidden faces of mine to the audience. My old [roles] were more about positive energy. They were very happy and easy to understand. But this time, I am going to be a serious person. The audience [will experience] a lot of pressure and the music is quite heavy. This show is about the relationship between people. I chose this topic because relationships are like the weather—one day might be sunny and the next day might have heavy rain. It’s very similar to when we create a work—everything keeps changing. When we prepare materials with the dancer—[some ideas] might work, and sometimes I need to explore other things. But in the process, suddenly the dancer will make something that wasn’t [what I assigned them], and I’ll love it and I’ll follow it to make something new develop for my show. I like unexpected things.
Watch “Blind Chance” from April 21-22.