Beyond Dancing

SHUM Pui-yung showed her passion for ballet since a young age, and it had been her dream to take dancing as her career. Yet, she chose to study English at the university, discontinuing her study of ballet.
College life did not extinguish Pui-yung’s passion for dancing. On the contrary, she was even being teased by schoolmates, saying that her major was actually the “Dance Society”. During her time at the university, she had experienced more diverse forms in dancing, which helped her better understand herself. Later she furthered her study at London Contemporary Dance School, determined to develop her career in the arts of dancing. However, once again, she had to struggle to make her choice, as she graduated at the time when the pandemic of the century was raging.
The divinity of dance cast the spell again to keep the destined Pui yung. Beating more than 800 candidates, she was selected to join Akram Khan Campany, and played an important role in “Jungle Book Reimagined”. After touring around the world for dancing performances, Pui-yung felt that she needed to change and introspect. Waving goodbye to the playful and exciting life of a wanderer, she returned to her hometown Hong Kong to search for her own rhythm in life.

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WANG Qingxin – Principal Dancer of Hong Kong Ballet

“I think I am a Ballerina!” When WANG Qingxin wore the first tutu that belonged to her, she was inexplicably excited! When she was young, she always looked forward to and longed for gorgeous and glittery dancing dresses; but when she really put on the dancing dress, there was an invisible pressure. In the ballet performances enjoyed by audience, which combine both romance and power, countless and dully repetitive practices are required for every turnaround, leap, leg raise and stride before they can be showcased on stage.
With unremitting efforts, WANG Qingxin has been promoted to the top position and plays an important role in the dancing troupe. She hopes to break through the frames and bring characters to life, so that she can shine on stage and the audience will not only remember how perfect her movements are, but also have a deep impression on the roles played by her.
Being extremely serious about her ballet career, WANG Qingxin considers herself a “Master of Suspense”. Therefore, she often reminds herself not to be stubborn about everything, and that there is no harm in having a bit of insensitivity.

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HUA Chi-yu – Principal Dancer, Hong Kong Dance Company

HUA Chi-yu goes with the flow and loves the purity of dance. She is not ambitious but has a resilient mind to overcome the challenges in career and life.
In 1995, Chi-yu came to Hong Kong from Taiwan to learn Chinese classical dance and folk dance at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, and has joined the Hong Kong Dance Company since graduation. During her 23 years as a professional dancer, she first became a mother, then a Principal Dancer.

How much longer can she dance on the stage? Chi-yu has no answer in her heart because she knows her body will tell her. Dance has taken up a large part of her life and she tries her best to enjoy and savour it. While people get old and their bodies deteriorate, wisdom grows with age and allows us to ponder and face the next stage in life.

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Born and growing up in Vietnam, NGUYEN Ngoc Anh studied ballet at the Vietnamese Dance College, and dabbled in contemporary dance afterwards. To pursue his dream and see the wider world of dancing, he determined to study at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.

While Anh was frustrated by the language barrier and cultural differences, he managed to overcome all difficulties with his perseverance honed through practising dance since childhood. After graduation, he joined the dance company of the renowned choreographer Wayne McGregor in England, and won the Spotlight Award for Male Artist at the UK Critics’ Circle Dance Awards.

After travelling around the world, it’s time for Anh to return home. For the sake of his family and giving back to the place that nurtured him, he returned to Hong Kong and continues to create and pass down his experience to the next generation.

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Yonen TAKANO, Principal dancer, Hong Kong Ballet

Yonen TAKANO was enchanted by the elegant movements of ballet dancers on television when he was seven. He then merrily joined a ballet class and was, however, the only boy in class. At school, he did not dare to tell his classmates that he was learning ballet. He once felt lost for doing ballet, but it was ballet that took him from Japan to Russia, where he studied classical ballet. He later moved on to Georgia, and now he has come to Hong Kong to continue his journey with his most beloved ballet dancing.

While people may regard dancing as a hobby, TAKANO sees it as his routine that is as natural as breathing, just like the bonding between couples.

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LI Yongjing – Lecturer (Contemporary Dance) at the School of Dance, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
Growing up in Guangdong, LI Yongjing started to receive professional Chinese dance training at the Guangdong Dance School since she was 10, thereby laying a solid foundation for dancing after 6 years of practice. She reminisced about the first time watching a contemporary dance performance by the Guangdong Experimental Modern Theatre Studio (now the Guangdong Modern Dance Company), which broadened her horizons and introduced her to a new realm of dance.
She became determined to learn contemporary dance and was successfully admitted to the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Coming to live in Hong Kong alone at the age of 16, she had to overcome the language barrier and break away from the established exercise mode, but in the process of exploring the possibilities of contemporary dance, she came to understand the meanings of time, space, weight and flow in dance.
Yongjing has a passion for art, and she draws her inspiration for choreography from both film and music. She strongly feels some kind of magic in films, where profound meanings can be conveyed with just a few scenes, and she hopes her dances carry such a power too.

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SANG Jijia was once asked by a foreign journalist what would first come to his mind when he recalled his childhood. SANG said that it was him running on the grassland of his home in Gansu with a bare bottom! This little boy could never imagine that he would become one of the most renowned Chinese dance artist on today’s international stage.

Although selected to study folk dance in Beijing at a young age, it was not until SANG did modern dance that he found his passion and chose his path for the first time by taking dancing as his lifelong career.

SANG came to Hong Kong from the Mainland, then he travelled around the world. He has experienced the differences and impacts arising from the Eastern and Western cultures in terms of dancing. After achieving mastery through his body, he continues to develop his dancing career in Hong Kong, a land that he is familiar with.


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Being an introvert, HO Gi-lam believes that dancing is not equivalent to performance. Having learnt Chinese dance for 20 years, she said she had danced for herself, and she came to know and expressed herself through dancing, exploring the possibilities of her body.
Gi-lam has developed a liking for Chinese dance since she participated in the extra-curricular activities by chance as a kid. She has laid a solid foundation for the dance from childhood, but she reminisced, “In the past, there were some dancing movements that looked good in my view, but now I think they are no good at all!”, because she did not know how to instill charm and soul into the dance at that time. After studying at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts with Chinese dance as her major, she realised that dancing was not just about making posture. What needs to be studied painstakingly is the transition between movements and their subtleties.
Admitting herself as being shy, Gi-lam would often hide in a group of dancers, trying to avoid becoming the centre of attention. A veteran once said that she often stood at the back to hide herself, but in fact, a dancer should be seen by others. With the accumulation of performance experience, she also tries to open up and submerge herself in every role.

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