The ongoing partnership between Brisbane-based Expressions Dance Company (EDC) and Hong Kong's City Contemporary Dance Company (CCDC) brings a compelling triple-bill to town this June.
'4Seasons' is the latest production to emerge from the Chinese-Australian Dance Exchange Project, a five-year programme established in 2015.
The new show brings together three new contemporary works from EDC Artistic Director Natalie Weir, CCDC Assistant Artistic Director Dominic Wong and Helpmann Award-winning independent choreographer Kristina Chan.
“Our company is so proud to collaborate with Expressions Dance Company and this is a very good chance to let both companies, especially for the dancers, do a cultural exchange with each other,” Dominic says.
“I guess the treasure for our company is that we can have a chance to learn something new from the other country. For myself as a choreographer it's a great moment when I travel to Australia... Because this is my first time to share my work, my creation, with others.”
'4Seasons' presents the three works performed by 20 dancers from both EDC and CCDC in a truly international display of artistry and contemporary performance. The musical score melds Vivaldi's iconic 'The Four Seasons' with moments from minimalist composer Max Richter, specifically his soundtrack to the 2012 film 'Disconnect'.
“When I knew the topic was based on the seasons, I [wanted] to use Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons', but after Natalie came to Hong Kong last year to complete her work, she used Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons' – I stopped and changed my idea to use the other music.
“Because I just discovered recently Hong Kong dance shows, drama shows and most of the theatre shows are using Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons' as the music, so I don't let it happen again and again. Finally for this time I changed to use the other music... By Max Richter; it's the soundtrack to 'Disconnect'.
Dominic's contribution to '4Seasons' is a physical exploration of the delicate interplay between the cycle of weather in each season of the year and human relationships, as Dominic explains:
“My main piece is [called] 'Day After Day', and the name comes from the brainstorm [sic] of seasons,” he says.
“Seasons is about the weather; the weather has cold and warm and human beings have some human relations in between each other. Sometimes when we miss the same people, we feel warm and happy but sometimes maybe after a day or many years later you feel cold and not very happy.”
'4Seasons' makes its premiere at the Ko Shan Theatre in Hong Kong at the start of June before travelling to Brisbane for a limited season at QPAC and also Darwin for two shows at the end of the month.
“Especially for CCDC we get a good chance to show what's here [Hong Kong],” Dominic says.
“The other point is it is a very good chance for the co-operation with Expressions because after the first premiere in Hong Kong immediately we will be touring Brisbane and to Darwin also. The main point of the performance is to connect three different places; to do and share our work with different people.”
