Finding Hope Through Dance: What Dance Means to Hong Kong’s Hope Patterson
WHAT DANCE MEANS TO HONG KONGS HOPE PATTERSON
The dance industry is always changing, but it has never changed so abruptly and drastically as it has over the last year. Imagine starting as a freshman in a tertiary dance program in the year of 2020. It would take a lot of hope and determination to keep up your dance training.
Finding hope through dance, Hong Kong’s very own Hope Patterson shares with us what her dance journey has been like and how she’s navigating through her dance studies.
What was one of your first memories in dance?
One of my first memories in dance was being told “no”.
Audition day arrived, and during class, I remember feeling full of joy as I step-ball-changed to Madonna’s “Holiday”, feeling as if I was a star in the making. After the audition, a handful of dancers were called to step forward, and it was revealed they were chosen to dance in a special ‘select’ piece. Much to my dismay, I was not one of them. After composing myself, I approached the choreographer for feedback, asking him what I could work on in terms of my dance. As a matter-of-fact, the choreographer stated that I had no technique whatsoever, and needed to take codified forms of dance such as ballet or jazz, suggesting a teacher in Hong Kong that I look into training with.
Even today, I am still so grateful for the disappointment of that ‘no’. As it not only spurred me forth to invest in and appreciate the importance of technical training, but also instilled in me an ability that I carry with me daily. To always receive “nos” as an opportunity to pause, reset, reevaluate my ability and seek an alternate way forward.
How has your dance career progressed since then?
As my abilities developed, I was invited to attend Complexions Contemporary Ballet’s PreProfessional Program, once in 2019 and again in 2020. I lived in New York for just over a month each time, where I trained daily alongside a small group of pre-professional dancers under the iconic Dwight Rhoden, Desmond Richardson and original company members. The four weeks culminated in the premiere of a new work, performed alongside the company at The Joyce Theatre in New York. Being part of the creation of a new ballet by Dwight, learning existing repertoire from Desmond as well as training in the company style, NIQUE, was a transformative and life changing experience for me and my dance journey, opening my eyes to the world of contemporary ballet. This training with Complexions is what I believe to have signalled the beginning of my upwards career trajectory, and is also the training which I attribute my acceptances and scholarships awarded at every University dance program I applied to.
In August 2020, I began my BFA in Dance at USC Kaufman. With the combination of a rigorous conservatory dance education embedded within a university which holds unparalleled academic opportunities, attending Kaufman is a dream realized. I’m incredibly excited for the multifaceted opportunities for artistic, academic and self-exploration that run parallel between Kaufman and USC as a whole, and for the opportunities to work with, learn from and perform works by artists such as William Forsythe, Kyle Abraham, Ohad Naharin, Jiří Kylián, Jodie Gates, as well as the repertoire of
What has been the most difficult part about dancing during COVID-19?
For me, one of the most difficult aspects of dancing during Covid-19 would be the inability to travel abroad. At the beginning of the pandemic, I was based in Perth, Australia for a month and stayed with family living there, taking classes at West Australian Ballet, satiating my dance travel-bug, albeit momentarily. While the inability to go abroad has hindered my summer plans and plans to connect with mentors overseas, a flurry of local opportunities here in Hong Kong as well as timezone-friendly intensives and workshops have arisen as a result of the shift of the global dance community to online work, and has made dance all the more accessible through social media.
What types of dance projects have you done in Hong Kong?
I have been part of the Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation family and their incredible projects such as Arts in the Park, performing at the Hong Kong Dance Awards, as well as their yearly musicals. Spearheaded by Lindsey McAlister, YAF is whom I credit for nurturing my love of the performing arts world as a whole, instilling the values of professionalism, performance etiquette and commitment to the craft from a young age.
I also participated in the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts’ Gifted Young Dancers Program for two years, where I studied and performed ballet, contemporary, and Chinese Classical dance.
More recently, I attended SHIFT Dance Project’s summer intensives, workshops and open classes SHIFT is a brand new program in Hong Kong led by Kelsey Ang, a fellow Hong Kong dance inspiration who has created a unique contemporary dance environment for passionate youth in the city, combining her dance experience in Hong Kong with movement techniques and concepts directly from her time dancing in Los Angeles.
How have your dance experiences in the U.S. differed from those experiences here?
For the past 5 years, I travelled to the U.S. every summer and winter break from school to participate in various intensives and preprofessional programs, whether this be with the Paul Taylor Company, the Martha Graham School, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, creative experiences with IAMFORCE in Los Angeles, or the monthlong pre-professional programs with (New York based) Complexions Contemporary Ballet. Through my experiences in America, I have been fortunate enough to be exposed to a multitude of styles and techniques that were otherwise not taught or easily accessible to the young dance community in Hong Kong, such as modern dance (Taylor & Graham), commercial contemporary dance, dance on camera, and contemporary ballet.
This time abroad also allowed me to build an incredible network of dance educators and inspirations who have become mentors to me. Funnily enough, some of these individuals actually have connections to Hong Kong, such as one of my contemporary professors at Kaufman, who danced with the Paul Taylor Company at the Hong Kong Arts Festival in 1990, and one of my ballet teachers here in Hong Kong dancing the works of one of my mentors (from USC) during her time at Washington Ballet.
What does dance mean to you as you find yourself back in Hong Kong?
Due to the Covid situation in the U.S, my entire first year of University has been online. I haven’t had the opportunity to travel to Los Angeles, and have instead been based in Hong Kong since my graduation from Chinese International School. However, I count myself incredibly fortunate that I can be here at home, with my training relatively undisturbed by social-distancing restrictions, and that I have an additional year to connect with my local dance and artistic community, as well as to be able to draw inspiration from the city around me. I recently collaborated with Hong Kong photographer Lee Wai Leung on the Hong Kong edition of his Worldwide Dancer Project, once shooting in a local fruit market in Yau Ma Tei, and another along tramlines and landmarks in the heart of Central. Being here at home has also allowed me to supplement my training at USC Kaufman from a technical standpoint. I’ve accessed and fostered new relationships within the dance, fitness and wellness industries through functional training with like-minded professional athletes in a physiotherapy-gym setting, as well as new and exciting choreographic endeavours.
With a wealth of experience at her fingertips, Hope Patterson is carving out a clear path for herself in dance. The ability to adapt her dance training no matter what is thrown her way shows us all just what it takes to make it to the big stage.