AS IF TO NOTHING DUNSTAN PLAYHOUSE  THURS 22 SEPT, FRI 23 SEPT & SAT 24 SEPT AT 7.30PM HONG KONG  AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

City contemporary company

As If To Nothing is a sublime examination of modernity, unique rhythms and psychological tension. Fourteen of Hong Kong’s best contemporary dancers delve into a multimedia landscape of memory, déjà vu and sensory distortion. Technically brilliant, fast-paced high-octane action. A stunning masterpiece.

“The is supremely kinetic, with endlessly flowing movement that requires the dancers to contort every part of their bodies” – South China Morning Post, Hong Kong

“a cutting edge work” – Global Times, Beijing

“The great success of the performance is due above all to the great ensemble work of the dancers, wonderful interpreters, and the flawless gears of this machine that is precise yet so human: as effective in the moments of the soloists as in the couples or groups, defying leadership and relying upon one another in intense collaboration” – Krapp’s Last Post, Italy

CHOREOGRAPHY & SET DESIGN BY Sang Jijia ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Willy Tsao MUSIC COMPOSED & PERFORMED BY Dickson Dee ORIGINAL LIGHTING DESIGN BY Goh Boon Ann COSTUME DESIGN BY Charfi Hung VIDEO ARTIST Adrian Yeung ASSISTANT ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Ringo Chan MANAGING DIRECTOR Raymond Wong TECHNICAL DIRECTOR Anther Lam EXECUTIVE LIGHTING DESIGN BY Low Shee Hoe DANCERS Bobo Lai, Peggy Lam, Noel Pong, Shirley Lok, Qiao Yang, Ivan Chan, Tseky Tse, Kelvin Mak, Terry Tsang, Natalie Mak, Malvina Tam, Dominic Wong, Lee Ka-ki and Bruce Wong

SANG JIJIA An ethnic Tibetan born in Gansu, Sang Jijia studied at the Beijing Central University for Nationalities and was a dancer with Guangdong Company (GMDC) from 1993 to 1998. He won the Gold Medal in the Modern Dance section of the Paris International Dance Competition in 1996 and was hailed as “Star of the Century” by the Guangdong Provincial Government in 1997. He was awarded the Asian Cultural Council Scholarship and American Dance Festival Scholarship in 1998 and 1999 respectively. He was a dancer of CCDC from 1999 to 2002. In 2002, Sang was chosen by the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative to study choreography under William Forsythe in Germany and stayed with Frankfurt Ballett and the Forsythe Company as assistant choreographer and dancer. Sang returned to China in 2006 and, since then, has created a number of full-length works for dance companies – CCDC, Beijing’s LDTX and GMDC. These works include Unspeakable (2007), Sticks (2007), As If To Nothing (2009), Standing Before Darkness (2010) , Layer Code (2013) and Fragile Beauty(2016) . Recognised for his powerful technique and performing to rave reviews in Asia and the West, SANG has collaborated with leading choreographers around the globe. He created Reflection of Others for Frankfurt Ballett in 2004. In 2013, he was commissioned by the Norwegian dance company Carte Blanche to create Not Here, Not Ever. His latest choreographic work is Pa|Ethos for Spellbound Contemporary , joining Fabbrica Europa Festival for the second time. Sang is currently the Resident Choreographer of CCDC.

WILLY TSAO Willy Tsao established CCDC in 1979 and has been its Artistic Director since 1989. His works have been presented at many international arts festivals over the past 30 years.

Tsao has devoted himself to the development of modern . In 1987, he started teaching modern dance at the Guangdong Dance Academy and the Beijing Dance Academy in 1988. In 1991, he was invited to be the Artistic Advisor of the Youth Dance Company of the Beijing Dance Academy. Since 1995, he has been conducting intensive modern dance workshops in different cities throughout China. He helped establish Guangdong Modern Dance Company and was its Artistic Director from 1992 to 1998. A year later, he became the Artistic Director of the Beijing Modern Dance Company and held the post until 2005. In 2001, Tsao was invited to be the Artistic Director (Dance) of the Closing Ceremony of the 9th National Games. He was invited to be the Guest Professor of Tianjin Institute of Physical Education in 2002. In 2004, he returned to the Guangdong Modern Dance Company as General Manager. In November 2004, Tsao and the Beijing Modern Dance Company accompanied Mr Hu Jintao, the then President of the People’s Republic of China, in his official visit to South America, where the Beijing Modern Dance Company did 15 performances during the tour. In 2005, he received the Hong Kong Dance Award for his choreography of One Table N Chairs. In September 2005, he established BeijingDance/LDTX and became its Company Director and Artistic Director.

Tsao's contributions have been widely recognised. In July 1999, he was awarded "Bronze Bauhinia Star" by the Hong Kong SAR Government for his significant contribution to the development of local arts. Other accolades and honours include the "Dancer of the Year Award" from the Hong Kong Artists' Guild (1988), the "Ten Outstanding Young Persons" (1990), the "Badge of Honour" from the Queen of the United Kingdom (1993), and the "Louis Cartier Award of Excellence - Outstanding Choreographer" (1998). Tsao received the Honorary Fellowship and Honorary Doctorate from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 2000 and 2015 respectively, and “Distinguished Achievement Award” in the 2014 Hong Kong Dance Awards for his immense and invaluable achievement and contribution to Hong Kong dance.

DICKSON DEE Dickson Dee (LI Chin Sung) has been engaged in the music industry for more than 25 years. His career started from importing European independent labels to Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, followed by establishing his own music label Noise Asia and organising concerts. His experience includes distribution, import/export, creation, publishing, promotion, artist management and other kinds of work in the industry.

In 1996, Dee’s debut solo album PAST was released under Tzadik label (USA). Since then, he began to set foot in the creative field with musical styles ranging from avant-garde to experimental, music concrete, electronic, new classical, industrial noise, dance and electronic world jazz. He has collaborated with various artists and was invited to Fabbrica Europa, Venice Biennale, Musik Triennale in Cologne, Bergen International Festival, Yokohama Triennale, Kitakyushu Biennale, Huayi Festival Singapore, Hanoi Sound Stuff Festival Vietnam, Taiwan International Music Festival, Shanghai International Arts Festival, Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture, New Vision Arts Festival Hong Kong and Silk Road Arts Festival Hong Kong.

Besides concerts, Dee also appears in arts academies and universities, giving workshops and lectures to share his experiences with students, hoping to trigger interest in and provide better understanding on sound art and music.

GOH BOON ANN Goh Boon Ann is currently the Assistant Professor of Dance School in The Taipei National University of the Arts.

Born in Malaysia, he has been a dancer of Hong Kong Dance Company, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre and CCDC. He is also a founding member of the South “ASLI” Dance Workshop. He joined the CCDC Dance Centre as the Technical Coordinator in 2001. He was the Resident Lighting Designer of CCDC and Guangdong Modern Dance Company since 2005 – 2013.

His major designs include Unspeakable for Beijing Dance/LDTX, Warrior Lanling, Out Of The Box, Very Dance! , As If To Nothing , Tales of Two Cities - Hong Kong．Shanghai．Eileen Chang, Six Degrees, Off Screen, Plaza X (2011 Rerun),The Legend and The Hero, Blind Chance, The Comedy of K (2012 Rerun), The Buying Game, Hedvig from The Wild Duck and Soledad for CCDC. Others major work in 2014 include 2014 Summer Concert for Taipei National University of the Arts, 2014 New Choreographer Project for Taiwan Meimage Dance, Another Country (2014 Kuandu Arts Festival) for The Tussock Dance Theater, The Ordinary Man (Chinese Festival of Arts 2014) for Singapore T.H.E Dance Company, TuTu for Hou Ying Dance Theater, The Hong Kong Jockey club Series for 42nd Hong Kong Arts Festival, The Island Whispers for Dance Art Hong Kong and Les Sylphides And More for Hong Kong Ballet. His lighting design for Upon Calligraphy by Liu Qi received the 2nd Class Award in Lighting Design at the

9th Guangdong Arts Festival and Six Degrees by Xing Liang received the awards for “Outstanding Design for Dance” from the Hong Kong Dance Awards 2011.

CHARFI HUNG Charfi Hung was awarded the Hong Kong Jockey Club Scholarship and graduated from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honors) Degree in 2003, majoring in Theatre and Film Design. She went abroad at Central Saint Martins Collage of Art & Design for further study in 2006 and has been qualified as full member of Hong Kong Designers Association in 2008. Hung’s recent theatrical works include Crazy For You, A Streetcar Named Desire, Made In HK, The Telephone, Le Villi, Macbeth, Faust, Spool!, Blackbird, The Will to Build, Crazy for Her, Shed Skin and French Kiss and Duchamp in the I-Ching Mirror. Her design for CCDC includes Herstory, What’s Next? Crime Scene!, As If To Nothing, Off Screen and The Tale of Miles in Triptych, The Buying Game and Happy Birthday?. In addition to theatrical works, she also designs sets for commercial events of renowned brands. She participated in Circus Musical Voyage de la Vie designed by Mark Fisher Studio as Art Director from 2009 to 2010.

ADRIAN YEUNG Adrian Yeung is a multimedia designer and holds a degree in computer engineering from the University of Hong Kong. He has contributed to more than 40 theatre, dance and music productions and has become one of the most popular multimedia designers in Hong Kong. His works often explore new technologies within the context of theatre production and examines the relationship between the world of mediated reality and the “liveness” of performances, using technologies like open source programming, mobile phone, projection mapping, motion capture and multiple live camera. His works for the stage have toured to Bergen, Paris, Nantes, São Paulo, Krakow, Singapore, Taiwan, Beijing, Guangzhou and Macao.

Yeung is also a theatre director, creating experimental works that challenges theatre both in terms of form and content, as well as examines today’s technological arguments. In September 2012, inspired by the film Blowup of Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni, he directed a multimedia theatre Antonioni Conjecture, in which he continued Antonioni’s questioning of the truthfulness of photography with theatrical reinterpretation of his classic films. In August 2011, he directed another experimental theatre piece Chris and Stephanie, which diagnosis the symptoms of the age of information technology and virtual reality.

His multimedia design created for As If To Nothing was nominated for “Outstanding Design” in Hong Kong Dance Awards 2010.

LOW SHEE HOE Born in Malaysia and graduated with a Bachelor Degree in Technology Management from the University of Technology Malaysia, Low received two scholarships from the HKAPA to pursue modern dance studies, graduating with a Professional Diploma in Modern Dance in 2004. He later took courses at the HKAPA for consistency to study theatre lighting design, graduating with a Professional Diploma in Theatre and Entertainment Arts (with Distinction) in 2008. During the study, he received another two scholarships, the Pacific Lighting Encouragement Prize and Overseas Student Scholarship.

From 2004 to 2008, Low was an active creator and performer, participating in festivals and collaborating with choreographers and companies. He founded LAPAR lab production in 2006, focusing on choreography and lighting, graphic and film design. The company won “The Best Lighting Design” in BOH Cameronian Arts Awards, as well as more than 10 nominations for design and performance.

He joined the Guangdong Modern Dance Company in 2009 as Resident Lighting Designer and Stage Manager, where he designed many productions and took part in international festivals. In 2014, he joined CCDC in Hong Kong, designing lighting for their productions. He is currently Resident Lighting Designer at both companies.

ARTIST LINKS www.ccdc.com.hk Facebook /ccdc.page YouTube /ccdcmkt