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City ContemporaryDance Company October 2008 Hong Kong, Cultural Centre by Natasha Rogai |
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If there is one thing choreographer Yuri Ng does not lack, it is ideas. His new work for City Contemporary Dance Company, Love on Sale, teems with them – theatrical, visual, musical and choreographic. Unfortunately, despite sporadic bursts of brilliance, they failed to come together into a coherent whole and the piece felt more like a work in progress than a finished production. The original concept of the show was based on combining the theme of a serial killer persuading victims to give him parts of their bodies with a new take on the classic Bertholt Brecht/Kurt Weill The Seven Deadly Sins. However, neither theme emerged clearly enough. The sins were portrayed, but it was hard to tell which was which, thus reducing the impact of any moral or satirical points. The central figure played by singer Chu Tak-him (a non-dancing role) kept whispering in the ear of various characters and measuring parts of their bodies, but only one of them appeared to become a victim, as her body was gradually ‘hidden’ in blue clothing signifying invisibility. The abrupt introduction at the end of the exploitation of Chinese workers during the Gold Rush followed by a sideswipe at the West Kowloon arts development project, while interesting in themselves, came as a complete non sequitur. Although the overall effect was more confusing than satisfying, Ng is never boring and there were some entertaining moments. The cabaret scene with male dancers doing chorus line duty in high heels was a highlight as was a duet for Yang Yizi and Lam Po (the only moment which held any real emotion). The parade of people wearing costumes made of plastic bananas would have had Carmen Miranda eating her heart out. Hong Kong audiences are notorious for arriving late and it was a pleasure to see latecomers receive a punishment that fits the crime. The cool, elegant blue set by anothermountainman (Stanley Wong Ping-pui) was effective as were the bizarre, de-humanising costumes by Henry Kong. Individual performing honours went to Chu, Dominic Wong (hilarious in full Marlene Dietrich drag and sporting a beard and moustache which looked suspiciously like the choreographer’s) and Michael Lopez for his Marilyn Monroe impersonation and his magnificent bilingual rant at the end, which brought the house down.
A version of this review previously appeared in the South China Morning Post.
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