Dance Transforming Education throughout the Pandemic in Hong Kong

DIGITAL ARCHIVE

Thursday 28 May 2020
1:00 – 2:00 UTC 

The Pandemic and social distancing policy in many countries globally has caused sudden disruption to all schools and formal education. This is also a particularly challenging time for the  field of dance education where kinesthetic sense and social connection experience is essential to this form of learning.  This webinar forum will share how the faculty of dance at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts is responding to meet the needs of students; to conduct the teaching with multiple online tools and protocols; and to offer new approaches to technique, choreography, performance and collaboration.  The panel will also discuss the importance of recognizing resilience, which defines as pushing through circumstances with mindfulness. Furthermore, keeping our humanity amid the realities of confinement and constriction enable us to better ourselves, extend empathy and work through emotional trauma. This also allows individual to express, create and simultaneously take care of their physical wellness as a way to build a community of care and support of our well-being on a collective level.

Speakers:

• Anna CY Chan, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Hong Kong
• Stella Lau, Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts, Hong Kong

Anna is a practicing arts educator, performer, producer, curator and administrator. Currently she is the Dean of the School of Dance at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and was the inargual Head of Dance at the West Kowloon Cultural District from 2014-18, responsible for shaping the district’s artistic direction and dance strategies and launched a series of new programmes related to contemporary performances, including Dance Dialogue with Wayne McGregor, Screendance, Writing Choreographic Process, Multimedia and Dance Dialogue, Dance in Alternative Space and Dance Dramaturgy. She also co-curated the annual Producers' Network Meeting & Forum and was Chief Producer for the ON VIEW: HONG KONG and Look Two Ways dance productions. As an educator, Anna launched the Gifted Young Dancer Programme for the Academy in 2004, developed performing arts curriculum for the Hong Kong Education Bureau, and served a key role in developing the Academy’s first MFA in dance and MFA theatre and drama education programmes. She established the Performing Arts Education Centre for the Academy in 2007 which focuses on the development of international networks to strategize and raise awareness of performing arts education. She has been invited as keynote speaker, presenter and guest lecturer in many international events and universities in Australia, Belgium, China, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, UK and USA. In 2018, she received the prestigious Hong Kong Dance Award for “Distinguished Achievement” in recognition of her significant contributions in Dance.

Stella Lau is a Senior Ballet Lecturer, Leader of Outreach and Gifted Young Dancer Programme of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. She graduated from the Hong Kong Academy of Ballet and was awarded twice the Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund Scholarship. Lau began her performing career with the Hong Kong Ballet and was the first homegrown principal dancer. She has extensive performing experience in both classical and contemporary works in Hong Kong and overseas. Lau obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Hons) and Master of Fine Arts Degree in Dance Programme at the Academy where she was awarded First-class Honours in 1997 and Dean of Dance Prize in 2010. Besides focusing on higher education for the past 20 years, Lau is also committed to the development of dance in the community at large. She hosts public talks, lectures and workshops on dance appreciation. She was showcased in the Hong Kong Dance Hall of Fame, and was awarded the Secretary for Home Affairs’ Commendation Scheme and City Contemporary Dance Laureate for her outstanding contribution to the development of arts and culture in Hong Kong. Lau serves as expertise adviser to various government bodies and other major arts organisations. She is former Chairperson of the Hong Kong Dance Alliance and currently the Vice-president of the World Dance Alliance Asia Pacific.