Language: Cantonese
Target participants: Aged 13 and above
A significant influencer on modern dance in China, Willy Tsao will discuss the three major attributes of the arts: individuality, originality and apprehension of present times, and its relations to the long history of Chinese traditional culture, including the comparison between Confucianism and Taoism, as an attestation to the commonality and integration of modern dance with the life trends and thoughts of China.
Speaker
Willy Tsao
Willy Tsao, as a choreographer, educator, curator, manager and director, is the founder / Artistic Director of BeijingDance/LDTX, Council Member of China’s Chinese Dancers Association and Vice Chairman of Guangdong Provincial Dancers Association. As a contemporary dance pioneer in China and Hong Kong, Tsao founded City Contemporary Dance Company (CCDC) in Hong Kong in 1979 and has been its artistic director from 1989 to 2019; He was named artistic director of China’s first professional contemporary dance company, Guangdong Experimental Modern Dance Group, when it was founded by the Guangdong Provincial Government in 1992 and held the post until 1998. In 2004, Tsao was invited by the Guangdong Cultural Bureau to resume as artistic director of the Guangdong Modern Dance Company until 2016. In Beijing, Tsao co-founded a civilian-run professional modern dance company, BeijingDance/LDTX in 2005, and had served as its artistic director since founding.
Tsao’s contribution to dance has been widely recognized. He was awarded Dancer of Year Award from the Hong Kong Artists’ Guild in 1988, Bronze Bauhinia Star by the Hong Kong SAR Government in 1999, Distinguished Achievement Award in 2014 and Life Achievement Award in 2017 by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. Tsao was invited by the Dance Committee of the International Theater Institute, a partner of the UNESCO, to be the Message Author for Asia-Pacific and delivered the message on International Dance Day 2018.
Meet-the-Artist: Willy Tsao Connection of Modern Dance and Chinese Culture