News Feature by Prisca Tang
Tracy Wong Choi Si, the curator of On Site, a featured series of the 20th Macao City Fringe Festival, told The Macau Post Daily yesterday she hoped that her group’s performance in different parts of the city could “incubate performers and hatch audiences” for contemporary dance shows.
Wong made the remarks at the Navy Yard No. 2 near A-Ma Temple yesterday.
On Site, which is organised by MW Dance Theatre, comprises nine sessions such as ImprovFlashMob, Body Traveller, On Site Outreach – Incubation Programme and A Step to Theatre: Shelf Life. Wong said that On Site features in the festival has a series of contemporary dance performances to present different aspects of Macau – a city that residents are familiar with. She said the aim of On Site was to develop a unique culture and atmosphere of contemporary art in Macau.
According to Wong, Macau people have the talent for contemporary art, yet the education system in the city limits their chances to study the subject further. She added that Macau is a place suitable for performing arts – it has the Western and Eastern mix of cultural backgrounds, an interesting history and a more laidback lifestyle. She pointed out that the only things missing are performers and audiences.
“Our performances and workshops around the city strive to gain more people’s interest in contemporary arts and try to build an artistic atmosphere in the city. Our aim is to attract audiences and possibly performers too,” Wong said.
Wong recalled that one time when her group was performing in public two retired men were talking about their performances. She said that one of them pointed at them and said “this is contemporary dance”. She said that the small comment sparked her interest in planting artistic seeds around Macau and slowly witnessing their growth.
Stop waiting for the rabbit
There is a Chinese idiom “waiting for a rabbit to kill itself” that people use as a metaphor to describe people who attempt accidental gains without putting in any hard work. Wong said that she did not want to be one of those people who wait for things to happen, so she decided to take up the role and act as one of the pioneers of the Macau contemporary art industry.
Wong admitted that working as a full-time art worker is a difficult career path in Macau. “I was asked many times for data or figures that showed the result of my work but I do not think the numbers do justice to how art influences people”
She said the results of her work could not be seen the next day or a year after, sometimes it could take even longer. She said that sometimes looking at people’s names on their workshop signup sheets or the attention she gets performing in the open-air were her main motivations.
Wong pointed out that audiences rarely walk away or just walk past their performances, adding that modern dance has the charm to draw the audiences’ interest. She said that she wanted to witness the bystanders becoming the audience, which was why she decided to make the performances more tangible.
“Having performances on the stage created a distance between the audience and performers, and I wanted to blur the line,” Wong said.
Wong suggested that people unfamiliar with performance art should watch one of their Body Traveller performances. She stressed that the carefully selected performances are high quality and easier to digest by the general public.
According to Wong, even though the COVID-19 pandemic had ruined some of the line-ups for On Site, tickets for their theatre performance during the festival were sold out even after they added more seats. She also said that her incubation programme successfully trained and recruited a few students from the University of Macau (UM). She said “maybe the seeds are sprouting and eggs are hatching”.
This undated handout photo shows audiences watching and taking photos of one of the On Site open-air performances.
This poster shows On Site curator Tracy Wong Choi Si (bottom) and her dance partner.
This poster for On Site lists the performances during the 2021 Macao City Fringe Festival.
