Dance, Times, Politics Introduction —The Dance that Evolved As a method of historical enquiry, the distinctive characteristic of “oral through the Political Vortex of history” is that it starts from the individuals and retraces history through in- the 1950s and 1960s depth interviews. While there may be limitations to oral history, such as the interviewees' subjective points of view and unclear recollections, it can be a Lam Heyee useful supplement to written historical records. On the one hand, this project sets out to fill in the gaps in the early development of Hong Kong dance; on the other, it reorganises these first-hand accounts which may be used as the basis for related research in the future. This essay is an attempt to sum up the personal experiences of ten pioneers in the dance field, and an attempt to relate these experiences to social history. As the project takes its starting point in the stories of these ten pioneers, there may be inadequacies in some aspects. Rather than offering an in-depth examination of the era, it illuminates the context of development and raises certain questions for reflection. We look forward to seeing further research on this subject in the future. In the late 1940s, Stephen Kwok and Ng Sai-fun moved to Hong Kong from the Mainland. They met at the Hong Kong Chinese Reform Association (HKCRA), and they practised folk dance and group dance. Later, they 382 Illuminations Dance, Times, Politics 383 both studied ballet at the Carol Bateman School of Dancing located at as a dance instructor. Julie Ng left Shaws for the dance unit of Television The Helena May in Central. In 1954, Joan Campbell relocated from the Broadcasts Limited. Lau So-kam, who moved to Hong Kong in 1973, also UK to Hong Kong, and worked as a teacher at the Carol Bateman School joined RTV at a later time. In 1978, she performed in Stone Girl by the Hong of Dancing. Not far away, on the Hill Road in Sai Wan, Cheng Wai- Kong Experimental Ballet Theatre established by Lau Siu-ming. Before the yung and Yeung Wai-kui began their dance journeys in the dance team founding of the Hong Kong Experimental Ballet Theatre, Lau Siu-ming, of Hon Wah Middle School (now Hon Wah College). Yeung later joined who studied abroad in the 1960s, had co-founded the Hong Kong Ballet the dance unit of the Hok Yau Club (HYC), where he was responsible Group with Stephen Kwok, Joan Campbell, and others, in 1964. for teaching and choreographing Chinese dance. At the time, Heung To In the 1960s, Joan Campbell began teaching Western folk dance at the Middle School graduate Florence Mo-han Aw was the chairperson of the University of Hong Kong and at other tertiary institutions. In 1965, the club, where she oversaw the organisation of different activities. inaugural Hong Kong Schools Dance Festival was held. Joan Campbell, In 1963, Lorita Leung moved to Hong Kong from Shanghai. Upon Lau Siu-ming and Stephen Kwok were invited to be advisors and judges. joining the Southern Drama Group, she became the dance teacher for Cheng Wai-yung has been involved in the competition since its second the actor training programme. Julie Ng was one of her students. Later, year. That is how the story began and unfolded along intertwining paths. Leung also became a choreographer for the films of Shaw Brothers (Hong This essay attempts to delineate the state of Hong Kong dance from the Kong) Limited (Shaws). Ng Sai-fun joined the Great Wall Movie Enterprise 1950s to the 1970s, based on the experiences of these ten pioneers in the in 1955, and oversaw the choreography for the company’s films. Moving dance field. The years, organisations, and professional organisations are all on from the age of film to the age of TV, Stephen Kwok joined Rediffusion key to the research on the development of Hong Kong dance, as they were Television (RTV) in 1968, while Lorita Leung also joined the company closely related to the changes in Hong Kong’s political climate, as well as 384 Illuminations Dance, Times, Politics 385 its social and cultural development. and culture. In the words of historian Liu Shuyong: Southbound intellectuals and Hong Kong’s cultural affairs The early phase of the war was also the golden age of the development of Hong Kong’s cultural affairs. Along with the large- Due to political volatilities, there were significant fluctuations in Hong scale southward migration of Mainland cultural organisations, Kong’s population from the end of the 1930s to the 1950s. In 1937, Japan there was an influx of renowned cultural practitioners. It shaped invaded China, which led to the occupation of Shanghai and Guangzhou. the characteristic of [the city’s] cultural development as being A large number of refugees fled to Hong Kong, and the city’s population spearheaded by foreigners.2 soared from 800,000 to 1.8 million. During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, a sizeable portion of the population escaped to the Mainland. The “large-scale southward migration” is a historical fact supported by By the end of World War II, Hong Kong’s population had dropped to actual figures. Over the years, there has been ongoing discourse regarding between 500,000 and 600,000. When political mayhem erupted in the the “southbound intellectuals” in the research on Hong Kong literature. Mainland in 1946, many fled and returned to Hong Kong, and the city’s For example, Lo Wai-luen, a former professor at the Chinese University of population rose to 1.86 million. With the change of regime in 1949, Hong Kong (now retired) and a researcher on the history of Hong Kong some people moved to Hong Kong in order to evade the Communist literature, has published several books on the influence of southbound Party of China (CPC). As of the early 1950s, the population had reached intellectuals on Hong Kong’s literary circle. Apart from their influence 2.3 million according to official estimates.1 Population movements had a on literature, these southbound intellectuals played an important role direct impact on the development of Hong Kong society, including its arts in the development of Hong Kong film. Research findings on this topic 1. Wang Gengwu ed. Hong Kong History: New Perspectives (Vol.1) (Expanded 2. Liu Shuyong ed. A Brief History of Hong Kong (Hong Kong: Joint Publishing [Hong Edition) (Hong Kong: Joint Publishing [Hong Kong] Ltd., 2017): 211. Kong] Ltd., 1988): 190. 386 Illuminations Dance, Times, Politics 387 are included in Monographs of Hong Kong Film Veterans 1: Hong Kong Stephen Kwok, Ng Sai-fun and Yeung Wai-kui moved to Hong Kong Here I Come and Monographs of Hong Kong Film Veterans 2: An Age of during that period. As they had left the Mainland at a young age, they had Idealism: Great Wall & Feng Huang Days, both published by the Hong not received any dance training before their move. Ng Sai-fun had some Kong Film Archive. The development of drama was also influenced by the exposure to Beijing opera in the Mainland. Although it was not proper southbound intellectuals.3 Based on various discussions on the subject, the training or study, it instilled in him an interest in the arts. In the 1960s group of “southbound intellectuals” refers to cultural practitioners from there was another influx of immigrants from the Mainland into Hong Kong China who moved to Hong Kong; specifically, it refers to the relocation because of the Cultural Revolution—such as Lorita Leung who arrived in of cultural practitioners to Hong Kong from the 1930s to the 1950s, after Hong Kong in 1963. Leung studied ballet in her primary school years; the Japanese invasion of China, the Chinese Civil War, and the founding she later joined the song and dance troupe of the Chinese volunteer army of the People’s Republic of China. Meanwhile, some right-leaning posted to North Korea, and subsequently the Lanzhou Military Region intellectuals arrived in Hong Kong after 1949. This resulted in a “literary Song and Dance Troupe. She brought these experiences with her to Hong circle marked by the left-right divide” between the left-wing intellectuals Kong, and worked as a choreographer for Shaws and RTV. An overseas and the right-leaning intellectuals in Hong Kong in the 1950s.4 Chinese from Burma, Lau So-kam came to Hong Kong in 1973, carrying with her the professional knowledge and experience she had gained in the 3. Cheung Ping-kuen. “Preface” in Cheung Ping-kuen, Hoyan Hang-fung eds. A Committee of Overseas Chinese Affairs Arts Troupe and the Department Narrative History of Hong Kong Drama from the Thirties to the Sixties (Hong Kong: Hong Kong Theatre Works, Shaw Run Run Hall of The Chinese of Arts, huaqiao daxue (the Overseas Chinese University). After arriving University of Hong Kong, 2001): V-XV. in the city, she taught Chinese dance at local schools and community 4. Wong Yin-ping.“‘nanlai nanguo qi wei qian? ’—cong wushi niandaichu xianggang de nanminchao tandao nanlai wenren zai xianggang wentan de shengcun xingtai” organisations. Leung and Lau were among those southbound intellectuals (“‘Would we have migrated southward just for money?’—From the refugee waves to Hong Kong in the early 1950s to the lives of southbound intellectuals in Hong who arrived in Hong Kong at a later stage. By then, a certain foundation Kong’s literary circle”) in Literary Century, vol.4, issue 4, no.37 (April 2004): 51-54. 388 Illuminations Dance, Times, Politics 389 for the development of Hong Kong dance had been laid.