A Report from Hong Kong

Report on Visit to Hong Kong for ISPA Conference
and Related Work
Jeff Ellinger

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to visit Hong Kong from June 6-12, 2006 for the 20th International Congress of the International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA). The title of this conference was "The New Silk Road for the Performing Arts", and among the stated goals of the conference were to:

Get first-hand information on the latest developments of the quickest expanding market in Asia; get acquainted with the management and facilities of major new venues; learn about new arts and cultural expressions, as well as this region's rich history and traditions; meet new ISPA members and colleagues from China and the region; and discover new business exchange opportunities during the Professional Exchange and special showcase opportunities.

The conference began with the keynote address by Mr. Lin Hwai-min, founder and artistic director of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan. Mr. Lin gave a moving and powerful address, emotional and personal, in which he charted his personal artistic journey. He talked about his early work as having a ''West is best'' point of view, which evolved as he matured. The parallels between his growth as an artist and the changes in performing arts in Taiwan (and the rest of Asia) were profound.

Throughout the conference, speaker after speaker brought up the image of the Silk Road as a two-way street, with arts and culture (''soft power'') flowing in both directions, which will eventually bring economic and financial flow (''hard power'') in its wake.

I won't try to list all the events I attended or all the people I met and spoke with, but here are some highlights: getting to know the unflappable CEO of ISPA, Johann Zeitsman; observing the Victoria Harbour light show with a group from the opening night reception and assigning ''roles in the band'' to the various buildings (the Bank of China was definitely on lead guitar); talking with Michael DiBlasi from Shuler and Shook about the Hogg renovation; observing dance showcases by HK professional choreographers including an erotic and hilarious piece called ''365 Ways of Doing (and Undoing) Orientalism''; talking to John Lambert from Montreal , Benson Puah from the Esplanade in Singapore (with his energetic young staff members Ravi and Jobina), Jon Nakagawa from Lincoln Center, Christine Khor from National University of Singapore, Mary Beth Treen, Marti Jones, David Lieberman, Toshi Yotsumoto from New National Theatre in Tokyo, Endo Suanda from Jakarta, Joe Jefcoat, George Trudeau, Leonard and Holly Auerbach, Jim Beirne, John Stalker, Ken Fischer, and many more.

I also enjoyed the two different presentations of Cantonese opera: a Kunqu (comic) short work called ''The Sister-in-law's Seduction'' and a more formal piece, an excerpt from ''Chasing After the Capable Man in the Moonlight.'' My favorite performance was the ''Chinese Music Virtuosi'', a quartet that performed four classic Chinese musical pieces on traditional instruments.

My favorites panels were:

-first, ''Strategies and Thinking Behind Asia's Performing Arts Centres'' moderated by Graham Sheffield, with Dr. Richard Engelhardt (UNESCO Regional Adviser for Culture for Asia and the Pacific), Mr. Fang Shi-zhong (President of Shanghai Grand Theatre, China), and Mr. Lin Pai-shi (Director of Xinghai Concert Hall, China), and Benson Puah CEO of the Esplanade in Singapore. Dr. Englehart gave a scholarly and somewhat pessimistic analysis on what globalization was doing to the indigenous arts and cultures of the region, while the two Chinese panelists spoke in detail about the growth of the audience for performing arts on the mainland. Benson gave a whirlwind overview of how his organization tackled and overcame the charge of being ''elitist''.

-second, ''Discovering and Reproducing Authentic Arts'', moderated by Robyn Archer, with Mr. Aik Yew Goh (Founder and Director of HUGO Productions, Hong Kong), Ms. Joanna C. Lee (musicologist, Hong Kong) and Mr. Hiroshi Takahagi (Producer of Setagaya Public Theatre, Japan). Mr. Goh and Ms. Lee each related their work in field audio recordings among the minorities of China, capturing ritual songs in village life, with special attention to the unusual polyphony and musical microtones in certain of the recordings. Takahagi-san spoke eloquently about the recent work of the Setagaya Public Theater.

In addition I was lucky enough to be able to arrange private tours of several very interesting theaters under the wing of the Hong Kong Leisure and Cultural Services Dept. (LCSD was also the host of the conference as a whole), as well as a private tour of the theaters and design studios of the Hong Kong Academy of the Performing Arts from the Dean of Technical and Applied Arts, John Williams. Dean Williams is also the man who designed the spectacular Hong Kong Victoria Harbour light show that is performed each evening at 8 pm and draws thousands of viewers a night. He was tickled at our ''band'' analogy and gave me some insights into how he designed the show.

My tours of the LCSD theaters provided me with both practical new ideas on handling technical electrics work and insights into a different approach to venue management. Mark Taylor, the solitary technical director of the fifteen performing arts venues (!) has built up a network of regional technical managers for the theaters that allows him to operate the theaters safely and efficiently while providing training and growth opportunities for his young technical managers. I thought their innovative use of motorized winch systems in combination with counterweight pipes was ingenious. We also discussed the complex labor situation in Hong Kong and drew parallels and differences with the situation in the United States and the European Union.

My tour of the HK Academy for the Performing Arts showed me extremely well-equipped theaters and studios and a sophisticated approach to design training. According to Dean Williams, the program provides a strong technical foundation in each of the design disciplines that are taught. As he described it, the curriculum seems more similar to the undergraduate theater curriculum at Texas State University than to the undergrad curriculum here at UT. In addition to lighting studios, I visited a digital audio editing studio and a multi-purpose studio being used for a project that combined motion-control, video projection, and moving light work.

In addition to all of the conference activities and tours, just the experience of being in China was amazing. Hong Kong may look like a Western city and it certainly is a ''world city'', but the regular folks you meet on the street are Chinese. My attempts to speak Cantonese provoked more smiles than conversation, but I think I got a glimpse of what China is really like.

Thanks very much to Pebbles for making it possible for me to go and to Larry Lehew and Eric Miller for taking care of everything while I was gone.

home / who we are / what we do / how to join / contact us

International Society for the Performing Arts Foundation
305 7th Ave., 5th Floor
New York, NY 10001-6008
USA
tel 212.206.8490
fax 212.206.8603
info@ispa.org
http://www.ispa.org/