Hong Kong choreographer Sang Jijia's long and lonely road
Sometimes I feel I belong nowhere, says Germany-trained, Hong Kong-based ethnic Tibetan as he prepares to take City Contemporary Dance Company production to Taiwan
Life would have turned out quite differently for Sang Jijia had he stayed in his hometown in Gansu province, northwestern China, instead of going to Beijing to study dance when he was 12. The ethnic Tibetan would probably have become a monk and spent his life at the Labrang Buddhist Monastery not far from his home.
“I am the eldest son in the family. The tradition is that families send one of their sons to the monastery as a way to collect karma. My parents were thinking about this when I was picked to study dance in Beijing and this changed my life forever,” the 41-year-old recalls.
I have been to many museums and gardens in Europe. And each time I stood before a statue or sculpture, I was overwhelmed by a feeling of loneliness.
Having attended the young dancers’ class at the Central Ethnic Minorities University in the Chinese capital, Sang has gone on to become one of China’s most successful choreographers.
This weekend he will be taking his work As If To Nothing to Taipei as part of Hong Kong Week in Taiwan. The piece was created to mark the 30th anniversary of the Hong Kong-based City Contemporary Dance Company (CCDC) in 2009 and has since been performed in Beijing, Guangzhou, Singapore, Florence, and most recently Niigata in Japan.
It is a technically challenging piece that not only travels well but also showcases the artistry of the troupe’s dancers. Sang says each time his work goes on the road, the audience will find something new in the live performance.
“Dancers come and go,” he explains. “Dance steps that were tailor-made for the original cast are sometimes too hard for the new dancers to emulate. So some adjustments are essential.”