“Asia Pacific Dance Platform” (APDP), which is hosted at the Hong Kong Fringe Club during the Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF), is a program which naturally started from festival performances and the relevant events in 2008. APDP consists of various activities including discovery of solo performances in the Pacific area, discussions, symposia, showcases and workshops. It can be summarized that the key objective of APDP is to provide network and exchange opportunities between choreographers and those hoping to become choreographers, to introduce young choreographers, and to build a platform to display their works. Along with this, APDP introduces the dynamism and creativity of Asian contemporary dance and provides opportunities to directly participate in various workshops and discussions that enable the participants to identify the latest trend and inspire themselves.

APDP is an avenue for “promising” choreographers to showcase their works. These choreographers are not exactly novices. In fact, each of them have established a strong reputation in the contemporary dance scen, having actively presented works in Asia, Europe and the US.

This year’s APDP displayed three showcases. The two-day showcase featured hip-hop Japanese dance artist Kentaro and Taiwanese choreographer, Chou Shu-yi alongside the traditionally trained Supriyanto.

Kentaro, whose dance style adequately blends hip-hop and daily life reflecting the lifestyle and metropolitan perspective of Japan today, has won various awards including the prestigious “Toyota Choreography Awards” and the “Yokohama Dance Collection”. Chou has showcased his works in Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London, City Center of New York and collaborated with Cloudgate 2. Over the years, Surpriyanto has constantly explored the boundaries of Javanese court dance through the contemporary choreographic practice.

The past four years of APDP has also seen an impressive and powerful line up of Asian dance artists like Dick Wong (Hong Kong), Jecko Siompo (Iindonesia), Namjin KIM (Korea), Takao Kawaguchi(Japan), Yukio Suzuki (Japan) among others. About 40 dance professionals from Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealznd, Singapore and South Korea have presented their works through the series of programmes hosted at the APDP.

Expanding the Vertical Ranges

Looking at the profiles of the invited choreographers, you may ask yourself what APDP’s position is in the 40-year old the HKAF and how promising you need to be to be regarded as “promising.” Since its launch in 1973, the HKAF has been delivering outstanding performances featuring local and international artists in an eclectic array of music, theatre, dance and popular entertainment. Initially conceived for tourism development, the HKAF has grown to be the territory’s premier cultural event. With more than 150 performances that run at more than a dozen venues over a month from February to March, the HKAF serves an annual audience of over 150,000.

Linda Yip, one of the HKAF’s festival programmers and APDP’s curator articulates that the HKAF’s vision for APDP is “to introduce contemporary dance that are not yet known to the people.” She added “Promising does not necessarily equate to emerging. When we find that it is the right time to present a specific artist, then that is where we take them on the move. We would like to have a ground for the independent artists to move up and have a chance to develop, inspiring both audiences and artists.” With this year’s APDP featuring mainly solos, the young programmer explains that there is no fixed format. She says, “Last year, we had four dancers per company. The year before was a combination of solos and trios. Then, there was one time where we had choreographers and critics working together. Then there was one time where we had choreographers and critics working together. “Contemporary” is now, daily life. It is about questioning movement, questioning what the audience see on stage. What I find interesting is the different dimensions dance gives to the audiences and how they perceive movement.”

The HKAF provides a broad spectrum of programs, ranging from classical fare to innovate art forms. APDP is a reflection of the festival’s wish to extend its repertoire by introducing a fresh approach to contemporary dance to the audiences in Hong Kong. APDP is stretching the HKAF horizontally and vertically.