Home Sweat Home（Tour）—Hebei

Choreographer, Director & Costume Designer: Yuri NG

Composer & Music Director: Anna LO

Performance: AN Tzu-huan, Freddy AU YEUNG, Felix CHUN, Olga CHUNG, Suyi HON, Eric KWONG, Genie LOK, SHUM Pui-yung, Nini WANG, Skye YAO, Simpson YAU, Tally ZHUANG

Musicians: CHAN Kam-ming, Eric CHONG, LI Chun-yiu, Rebecca LI, LO Yi-kin, Victor TSANG

The subject matter of “Language” and “Body” has always captivated me. In 2020, I embraced the role of Artistic Director at the City Contemporary Dance Company (CCDC). Since then, I’ve dedicated myself to exploring the distinct allure of each dancer in the company, beginning with their diverse origins. CCDC reflects Hong Kong’s rich cultural landscape, with its premiere dancers from all corners of the world, each bringing their own captivating narratives. This inspired me to continue my 2019 collaboration with Anna Lo and Rick Leung on Tri Ka Tsai and Lauzone, projects that dive into the trilingual pop song culture enriched with multiple dialects. I am determined to uncover the layered cultural dynamics of Hong Kong, an international metropolis, reflecting on its past, present, and future. What does “root” signify to us? What connotations does “home” evoke? In this musical and dance cabaret journey, where accents and cadences flirt with comprehension, let’s unfold emotions and contemplations behind themes of drifting, migration, moving to a new city and returning home.

As of 2024, the work aligns with CCDC’s ‘An Ardent °Fall’ season tour. I have joyfully handed this endeavor over to a new generation of dance artists, furthering our mission to comprehend the complexity of hybridity we encounter. I am excited to see how contemporary diversities converge, celebrating bodies and linguistic identities from North to South, East to West, and creating moments of heartfelt resonance. Below are my director’s words when I first directed the work in 2021. I invite you to delve into the “body” of text with me, originally penned in Cantonese.

HOME is

an Empty Harbour.

Empty,

merely empty;

utterly empty.

( … )

Harbour, too,

is empty –

just empty,

only empty,

ever empty,

until

HOME.