Festival seeks to promote contemporary dance in town

Popeye Hong

The organizers of the first Macau Modern Dance Festival (MMDF) claimed that Macau apparently lacks education in modern dance and instead focuses more on traditional Chinese dance and ballet. They hope that, through organizing workshops and seminars, as well as bringing modern dance into schools, the public will have a better understanding of the dancing style.
MMDF will take place between August 30 and September 7.
In a press conference yesterday, organizers explained that the festival seeks to provide a platform for the development of contemporary dance in Macau, as well as to popularize and promote the professional development of the art.
There will be a series of dance programs with artists from Macau, Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Taiwan. Workshops are also organized in collaboration with local schools. At the end of the festival, there will also be a seminar at the end to discuss the future development of contemporary dance in Macau.
The Times spoke to the co-
producers of the festival, Stella Ho and Popeye Hong on the sidelines. They said that the professional development of contemporary dance in Macau is “basically zero.”
“In terms of the development [of contemporary dance in Macau], there are only some civil groups that are organizing workshops… and no more,” she said.
“Both the education in schools and the [full-time] dance course [that is offered by the Macau Conservatory] may not have a very clear introduction to the vision of dancing. Since contemporary dance is more about the state of mind while here [in Macau] we focus too much on the teaching of technique and is lacking in [the training of mind]. This has made it difficult [for students] to learn modern dance as they grow up,” Ms Ho said.
Meanwhile, Popeye Hong pointed out that most local dance groups train children and teenagers out of commercial consideration. It is very rare for them to offer modern dance training as well.
“[Macau] lacks a good training regime [for local dancers]. Even though there is a [full-time dancing] course at Macau Conservatory, there are also many others who do not study there and are interested in dancing,” Mr Hong said.
He added that the “certificate culture” in Macau means that parents are more likely to allow their children to learn skills that can, somehow, be evaluated and graded. This has also put modern dancing, which does not have a set standard of technique, at a disadvantage.
In terms of government support, both Stella Ho and Popeye Hong have admitted that the Macau government is doing as much as it can to promote contemporary dance.
Ms Ho cited the recent Macau Art Festival as an example, saying that the authorities did try to introduce programs to Macau that are different from the art festivals in nearby regions.
However, she pointed out that the audience in Macau has to be exposed to more contemporary dance performances and learn how to appreciate it.
Popeye Hong added that the Cultural Affairs Bureau has too many different artistic genres and styles to promote, which means that it cannot focus on promoting one particular art form like modern dance.
The two co-producers concluded that they want to explore the future of contemporary dance in Macau through MMDF and will continue to organize activities to promote modern dance in the future.