It is not a still life, but still and alive.
The Moment 刻 explores the performativity of stillness and the dynamics of the gaze. Drawing from KT Yau's previous "Life Drawing" research project, the work investigates how the act of posing and being observed transcends the realm of visual arts practice.
In live drawing sessions, Yau invited her mother, ex-boyfriend, and a professional portrait artist to closely observe and depict her nude form. As they drew, the inviters were asked to verbalize their immediate impressions, memories, and thoughts triggered from their observation. These reflections revealed the complex power dynamics at play — the mother-daughter relationship, the intimacy of former lovers, gender perspectives, aesthetics and history on nude mode drawing, and more.
Beyond a mere still life, The Moment 刻 animates this state of "stillness" on stage. Drawing the reference from the tradition of “tableau vivant” (living picture) — the work positions the performer's frozen pose as a site of performativity. The audience's gaze is given new dimensions, moving between empathy and voyeurism, aesthetics and objectification. Juxtaposing the verbatim materials with the state of stillness and transformation on stage, KT is constructing a work with an autobiographical lens filtered through the eyes of others. With the verbatim records are being transformed into a foreign language in which the power relations are presented in this new version, in challenging the way Yau in positioning the memory and performance. In between stillness and movement, verbatim and performance, intimacy and distance, the work revealed the meaning of nudity and nakedness.
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KT Yau Ka-hei 邱加希
Choreographer & Performer
Hong konger.
KT Yau is a Hong Kong-based independent artist known for her innovative and thought-provoking choreographic works. A former resident choreographer at Unlock Dancing Plaza and Dance artist with Y-Space Dance Company from 2013-2014, and she has furthered her dance studies in Israel in 2016.
Her artistic practice has garnered critical acclaim, with Yau receiving several prestigious awards, including the Award for Young Artist (Dance) at the Hong Kong Arts Development Awards (2018) and the Emerging Choreographer Award at the Hong Kong Dance Awards (2018) and The Hong Kong Jockey club Music and Dance Fund 2024. Her works Unmixed (2018) and Confine (2019) were also nominated for Outstanding Choreography at the Hong Kong Dance Awards, and Remain Invisible (2017) has received the "Out of the Box" Award at the Nordic Fringe Festival in Gothenburg.
Yau's choreographic works are marked by a keen exploration of the human condition, often disrupting conventional notions of body, mind, and society. Her works have also been invited for international tours to Sweden, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.
Dong Yan 董言
Dramaturge
DONG Xianliang (also known as DONG Yan) is a scholar and theater practitioner. He earned his Ph.D. from the Department of Chinese and History at the City University of Hong Kong. His interests primarily lie in understanding how various mediums embody the intersecting knowledge of language, the body, and materials, spanning from medical books and intellectual culture to theatrical performances and corporeal literacy. Dong has served as an academic fellow at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, the City University of Hong Kong, and Hong Kong Shue Yan University, as of June 2023, the Hong Kong Baptist University. He has also collaborated as a creative writer and dramaturg with various institutions and individuals in the performing arts field. He is currently working on several projects focused on collecting and archiving historical materials from dance organizations and artists, with the aim of establishing a solid foundation for further research.
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Production Team
Concept, Choreographer, Performer
KT Yau Ka-hei
Dramaturge
Dong Yan
Producer
Orlean Lai
Video Artist
Wilfred Wong
Foley Artist & Audio Editor
Sham Chung-tat
Voice Performers
Cheng Yee-chai, Michelle Li
Production management by orleanlaiproject
Interviewees in the research process:
Louise Lee, Wong Suk-fun, Lawmanray, Siu Ding
Special thanks:
Cathy Lau, Hin Hon, Christine He, Jennifer Mok, Tilliana, Bryn Thomas
“HOTPOT” – production Team
(from City Contemporary Dance Company)
Programme Curator
Yuri Ng
Lighting Designer
Lawmanray
Production Manager
Jason Ma
Deputy Stage Manager
Bee Li
Project Manager
Kevin Cheung
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The 6th HOTPOT East Asia Dance Platform (December 2024) at Yokohama, Japan
Organisers: Yokohama Dance Collection, City Contemporary Dance Festival, SIDance
Co-organiser: YPAM (Yokohama International Performing Arts Meeting)
https://yokohama-dance-collection.jp/program/program09/
The Japan tour is supported by:
Hong Kong Arts Development Council
The 4th Hong Kong Dance Exchange 香港比舞 (December 2024), Hong Kong
Acknowledgement:
The concept and idea of the work were conceived and developed from the “FIRST Creation Platform” presented by Freespace, West Kowloon Cultural District.
Hong Kong Arts Development Council supports freedom of artistic expression. The views and opinions expressed in this project do not represent the stand of the Council.
