On 22 September 2013, 21 YAF dancers performed a wonderful piece titled ‘Bell Hopping’ at the grand The Peninsula Hotel. Below are some pictures of the spectacular performance:

今年九月二十二日, 二十一位YAF舞蹈員在宏偉的香港半島酒店大堂表演了一支活力充沛的舞蹈—“Bell Hopping” 。以下是一些表演的相片:

Typhoon Usagi did not stop us from performing, although the last of the three performances had to be cut in the end so that all our audience and dancers safely got home before the typhoon hit Hong Kong.

雖然當天下午要掛八號風球, 但是我們也堅持表演了兩次，只取消了第三個演出, 讓表演者和觀眾都可以安全回家。

Three of our performers, Sandy Fong, Tess Chau and Sharon Cheng, talked to us about the creative process, their inspiration, “The Peninsula experience” and their feelings about the performance.

我們訪問了三位表演者，講述今次表演的創作過程、靈感、在半島洒店演出經驗和感受。

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YAF: What was this performance about?今次的表演是關於什麼呢？

Sandy: As the name states, this performance was about bell hopping in the grand The Peninsula Hong Kong, where we dancers represented the hotel to deliver a dance depicting the joyful image of bellhoppers.

這次表演名為”酒店行李員”, 顧名思義, 我們扮演一群活潑的酒店行李員在酒店大堂跳舞, 將酒店行李員敬業樂業的形象透過舞蹈展現出來。

Tess: Personally, I think the “Bell-Hopping” piece is about the hard work that you endure as a bellhop, and how a bellhop supports and provides a nice environment for the Peninsula.

對於我來說, 今次演出是有關行李員們付出的努力，以及他們如何支持半島酒店提供一個舒適的環境。

Sharon: The Peninsula hotel is a true beauty—the history, stories and people that have come and go through it make it a symbolic location of Hong Kong. We had to recreate that through our performance.

By incorporating emotion, miming, and the epic style of Lindy hopping, we were able to translate all of the above through a narrative-like piece. Not only entertaining as it tells the story of the Peninsula, it’s also fantastic to watch!

半島酒店是一個真正美麗的標誌—它的歷史、故事和相關人物都令它成為象徵香港的地點。我們的任務是將這些特質表達出來。

透過融合Lindy Hop的舞蹈風格，加上濃厚的情感和模仿技巧，我們能夠將以上的特質如故事般演譯出來。這不僅有趣地傳達了半島洒店的故事, 也為觀眾送上了一個精采的演出呢！

YAF: What was the inspiration for this piece? 此作品的靈感來自什麼呢？

Sandy: The main inspiration comes from the occupation bellhop itself.

At the very beginning, all the dancers had to familiarise themselves with the daily tasks of a bellhop, in order to build up a solid image of an impressive bellhop.

最大的靈感來源處莫過於對酒店行李員這個職業本身的認知。

在正式排舞之前, 舞蹈員先要認識酒店行李員的日常工作, 並幻想自己當上酒店行李員時應有的心態, 這樣才能塑造出一個令人印象深刻的形象。

Sharon: The architecture and atmosphere of The Peninsula hotel played a key role in inspiring our own choreography.

The dynamic and modern, yet classy and sophisticated atmosphere helped us create a piece that was demonstrative of the daily life of the hotel, the exquisite service provided there, as well as the traditional customs of the hotel.

And I must not forget… the bell boy costume! I was definitely inspired to recreate the feeling of the helpful and kind bellboy!

酒店的建築和氣氛啓發了我們的舞步。半鳥酒店優雅高貴的氣氛有助我們創怍一個有關酒店行李員們的日常生活，酒店的傳統習俗，以及那裹提供的優質服務的作品。

不得不提的，當然還有表演時穿的行李員制服–這絕對啓發我在創作中帶出行李員們給人樂於助人和友善的感覺。

Tess: I think the inspiration for the piece was bell-hopping all day and lugging around cases, but yet at the same time, having fun.

我認為靈感是來自於行李員日夜為客人搬行李，但同時樂在其中的工作。

Sandy: Our director Lindsey also gave us some pictures indicating traffic signs seen on a road, such as “go forward”, “turn left”, “stop”, etc. This is because one of the task as a bellhop is to direct to customers to the destined place they want to go to.

Furthermore, using suitcases as the props also played an important role in depicting the strong image of a bellhop. We dancers had to learn how to handle the suitcases during the dance.

導演Lindsey 給舞蹈員一些印有路面交通指示牌例如 “向前”, “轉左”, “停止”等等, 希望引領舞蹈員編造一段由自己揣摩出來的舞蹈, 並了解酒店行李員其中一項工作便是位客人指路。

此外，唯一的道具行李箱在整個表演也擔當著一個很重要的角色，行李箱的配合能使舞蹈員扮演酒店行李員的目的更形象化， 具體化， 同時亦考驗舞蹈員如何在跳舞時與行李融為一體。

YAF: How was the use of video helpful in the creative process? 透過運用影片, 如何幫助到今次的創作過程呢?

Sandy: Videos of similar performances can act as reference materials to inspire and guide dancers in choreographing their own dances according to specific themes and requirements.

In our case, Lindsey let us watch a video of “Lindy Hop”. I learnt from the video that dancers who put full effort into their dancing have the power to stir the audience and influence their emotions.

I was so attracted to the performers in the video, because they not only had superior technique, they were also able to make use of their facial expressions to influence the way the audience felt. This is one area that we as young dancers could learn.

影片能給予經驗淺顯的編舞著一些創作靈感, 好讓他們有一個比較明確的創作方向。

我深深被片中的表演者吸引了, 因為他們的表演除了是技巧上的優秀外, 作為一個表演應有的面部表情和感染觀眾的能力我都能夠體驗的到, 這些都是我們這全群年輕舞蹈員要學習的地方。

在這次的表演中, 我們選用了 “Lindy Hop”作為其中一段舞。 因此, Lindsey 給我們播放其舞曲的代表作, 讓我們欣賞片中舞蹈員傾力的演。

Tess: I really enjoyed watching the Lindy-hopping video, and I really think that after watching it, it gave all the dancers inspiration and an idea of how they wanted to choreograph their own routine.

我很喜歡那段Lindy Hopping的影片。看過此片之後，每一個舞蹈員都得到了很多靈感來構思他們自行創作的舞步。

Sharon: Lindy hopping is really fast, no jokes! I have danced all my life but nothing that I have done can compare to what those professional dancers are able to pull off!

Even though we did not replicate the exact movements of those dancers, we were able to comprehend the nature of Lindy hopping and thus express ourselves in that cheerful, jolly manner.

不要說笑, Lindy Hopping是一種非常快速的舞蹈! 我由小到大跳舞都未試過跳這些專業舞蹈員能夠做到的動作。

即使我們沒有完全地模仿到他們的舞步, 我們都能夠以自己的表達方式帶出Lindy Hopping的開朗、快活的風格。

YAF: To you, what was the biggest challenge in putting this piece together? 對於你來說，創作此演出的最大挑戰是什麽?

Tess: To me the most challenging part was having to devise and choreograph our own routines and moves, yet that part was the most fun because we could decide what we wanted to do.

So far I’ve had a lot of fun working with YAF, and I really hope in the future I can get more involved with YAF.

All my experiences with YAF has made me the dancer I am today and I encourage young dancers everywhere to get involved with YAF!

對我來說，最大挑戰是要我們自己設計和編排所有舞步，但這也是最好玩的部分，因為我們可以自己決定想跳什麼。

到目前為止，同YAF合作給了我很多樂趣。真希望日後可以有更多的合作機會。

YAF的經驗令我成為今天的舞蹈員—我鼓勵所有年青的舞蹈員都去參與YAF!

Sharon: The essence of unity and pushing ourselves to immerse in the performance was the greatest challenge.

It’s easy to do a dance piece, but to truly dance it with our hearts and souls and in accordance to the philosophy of the Peninsula was no easy feat.

最大的挑戰是要團結和亳無旁騖地投入在表演其中。跳一段舞是一件容易的事，但要按照半島酒店的理念再用心和靈魂把舞蹈跳出來，就並非簡單的事。

Sandy: In this piece, I have encountered two main challenges, the language barrier and the choreography.

It is always a challenging task to get along well with non-Cantonese speakers, to a local resident like me. English-speaking people are very nice and friendly. Most of them are willing to make new friends.

However, due to the difference in cultural backgrounds and my proficiency in English, sometimes I find it hard to maintain a longer conversation with them.

The only way to solve this “problem” is to speak more and meet more English speakers! And I know YAF can definitely offer me such an opportunity!

對於我來說, 這次的演出我面對著兩個挑戰, 一是語言障礙, 一是舞蹈創作。

作為一個本地學生, 用英語作專題匯報是有的, 但平日說英文的機會卻不多. 這次的表演同伴, 大部分都是來自國際學校的。

他們都很友善, 但始終基於文化背景的差異和我英文口語的流利程度, 我覺得很困難跟他們“保持通話”。

但唯一能使問題得以解決, 便是不斷的與他們溝通, 而YAF正正給了我這樣的機會! 所以我相信假以時日, 我定能克服以英語跟別人溝通的。

Another challenge is doing choreography for the piece “Lindy Hop”. With reference to the video shown by Lindsey, the dance piece can be described as funky and jazzy, which is totally not the type of dance I did before!

Therefore, I initially found it hard to create my own piece of dance within the time given. I tried hard to figure out how the dance steps work and fortunately I completed the task at last.

至於另一個挑戰, 便是創作“Lindy Hop” 的舞蹈。 看影片時, 我已經覺得不妥, 因為我從來沒有嘗試過同類型的舞蹈, 現在還要我做相關的創作, 對我來簡直是不可能的任務。於是我起初是沒能在指定時間完成創作。 後來我嘗試觀察別人的創作,並和我的雙人舞同伴商討和逐步完善舞步, 最後我們的創作也算是令人滿意的。

Sharon: Not to mention the partner lifts and synchronization required! Fortunately with our determination, mutual support and our lovely choreographer Lindsey we were able to execute the performance spectacularly!

還有跳雙人舞所需的協調呢！幸好，有了我們的決心，加上導演Lindsey的悉心指導, 我們都能夠完成這支壯觀的舞蹈。

YAF: How did you get involved with YAF? What projects have you done with YAF?你是怎樣參與香港青年藝術協會(YAF)? 在YAF參與過什麼項目呢？

Sandy: I got to know about YAF through the Arts in the Park (AIP) auditions in 2008 from my friend, and I was luckily selected as one of the dancers for this large event.

My previous performance experience was mostly indoors in theatres or in community halls, so Standard Chartered’s Arts in the Park was my first large-scale outdoor performance, and I immediately fell in love with it!

To me, there is something about dancing outdoors and getting close to the audience that makes it more interesting than dancing on a one-way theatre stage.

經朋友介紹, 我在2008年報名參加了渣打藝趣嘉年華的選拔並有幸被選中參與舞蹈表演。以往我的表演經驗大多在室內如劇院或社區會堂, 所以渣打藝趣嘉年華是我第一次參與的大型戶外演出, 而我一試便愛上了!

因為街頭表演能與觀眾有很密切的接觸和交流, 比起在劇院舞台上作單向性的表演更有樂趣。

In the following year, I was invited by my AIP choreographer Pat Chiu to join another YAF project named “Point-to-point site specific art project”. After that, I took a break from performing arts projects since I had to attend two public exams in the following two years.

I joined YAF again when I was admitted to the university last year. In June, I joined the Peninsula Hong Kong 85th Anniversary Dance Performance choreographed by Kirsten Ho. And this time in September, I was part of this dance piece directed by Lindsey McAlister.

其後在2009年5月, 我又被邀請參加另一個項目 –香港賽馬會點對點社區藝術計劃。 此後的兩年我由於要專心應付公開考試, 便暫停參加YAF的表演項目。

去年我考上大學後重投YAF 懷抱, 並在6月參與半島酒店85週年舞蹈表演。這次9月的演出是我今年第二個YAF表演. 當然我希望在未來的日子有更多的演出機會!

YAF: What about you, Tess?你呢，Tess?

Tess: I first got involved with YAF when Anca recommended me to audition for Godspell last year! It was a great experience, especially since it was my very first audition!

Although I didn’t get in, in August I was invited to do a Peninsula piece with YAF, “From 1928”. It was choreographed by Kirsten Ho, and I made a lot of friends and met a lot of talented young dancers.

After that I was invited to do this recent piece, “Bell-Hopping” by Lindsey, at The Peninsula. I met a lot of new people, and also got to reunite with some of the people from the previous Peninsula piece.

I’m currently rehearsing another Peninsula piece choreographed by Siobhan Dumigan, “If Walls Could Talk”.

我第一次接觸YAF是當Anca向我推薦上年<<福音>>音樂劇的面試。這是一個難忘的經驗，尤其這是我第一次面試呢!

雖然我最後沒有入圍，但我在八月中被邀請跳賀倩瑩為半島酒店編的<<從1928>>。我從中認識了很多朋友和有才華的年輕舞者。

經過這次演出後，我再被邀請參與Lindsey半島酒店的<<Bellhopping>>。

現在，我正排練另外由Siobhan Dumigan為半島酒店編的<<聽牆說話兒>>。

YAF: And you, Sharon?你呢，Sharon?

Sharon: Being a dance enthusiast, I was and am always looking for performance and learning opportunities. I found out about YAF through my school bulletin back in 2011, and ever since I have participated in 3 dynamic and engaging arts in the park performances, 2 unique and dazzling performances at the peninsula hotel and one dance photoshoot… and there’s definitely more to come!

身為一個舞蹈愛好者，我經常尋找演出及學習的機會。三年前，我從學校的壁報得知YAF這個機構，從此就參與了三次「藝趣嘉年華」，兩個精采獨特的半鳥酒店的演出和一次照片拍攝…相信還陸遂有來!

YAF: Thanks everyone, we wish you the best in your upcoming performances!

Come join us in our next Peninsula project, “If Walls Could Talk” which is now in rehearsals. The show will be performed on 27 October 2013, Sunday at 2:30, 3:30 and 4:30pm at the Peninsula Hotel Lobby. See you there!

多謝各位，我們預祝三位演出成功! 我們下一個於半島酒店大堂的表演，將於十月二十七日 (星期日)兩點半、三點半及四點半演出，到時見!