Body Pilgrimage
VIEW EVENT DETAILSEvening Seminar with Bambang Suryono, Dancer and Actor, moderated by Tang Shu-wing, Artistic Director, Tang Shu-wing Theatre Studio
Registration 6.45pm
Seminar at 7pm
Close 8.30pm
Conducted in English with Cantonese translation
Beginning with an introduction of Wayang Wong, a type of classical Javanese dance theatrical performance, Javanese Wayang Wong master Bambang Suryono will introduce his training methods to open up one’s sensibility towards details of body movement through breathing and voice. Through demonstrations on inhalation and exhalation techniques, master Suryono will illustrate how “togetherness” flows in with body movements. The seminar will be moderated by Tang Shu-wing, Artistic Director of Tang Shu-wing Theater Studio for a conversation on inspirations, and the theatrical immersion of body and spirit to reveal the juxtaposition of tradition and modernity, sharing Suryono’s view on the relevance of the evolving Javanese Wayang Wong tradition with the lives of people today.
Bambang Suryono is a dancer and actor of Wayang Wong Istana Mangkunegaran (Javanese traditional theatre in Mangkunegaran Palace) for twenty years. He is a dedicated person for the dance in the palace and traditional theatre. His research about vocal expressions of indigenous people around Indonesia regions such as Papua, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Sumatra, and Jawa produced a specific method of body training called Besur’s Technique. It elaborates and intensifies the consciousness of body sensitivity of actors and dancers to catch detailed movements through breath, voice and movement. A very slow tempo, refined, and flowing movement is the core of the technique. It has been applied in international workshops - Minnesota University, Mineapolis, USA (2008), Swarthmore College, Philadelphia, USA (2009), SOAS London (2009, TTRP & ITI Singapore (2002-2013), ISI Surakarta, Indonesia (2000-2015), and Akademi Seni Mangkunegaran (2006-2015).
Tang Shu-wing is a stage director, theatre educator and veteran actor, he was the former Dean of the School of Drama of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Between 1986 and 1992, Tang studied in France where he received training of acting in l’Ecole de la Belle de Mai and his Maîtrise Diplôme in Theatre Studies from the Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris, where he later served as an assistant director and actor in Théâtre de la Main d’Or before returning to Hong Kong. He is the current Artistic Director of Tang Shu-wing Theatre Studio and also the Head of Programme of the first ever physical theatre training programme in Hong Kong. Tang has directed over forty productions of drama, dance and opera. His works include Titus Andronicus, Titus Andronicus 2.0, Detention, Thunderstorm, Why Aren’t You Steve Jobs? His works have been presented in many cities in the world. He directed an opera Datong in Hong Kong Arts Festival in 2015 followed by Phaedra which will be performed in Macau Arts Festival in May. He has been invited to direct Macbeth in Cantonese in Globe in London in August while Detention will be performing in Edinburgh at the same time.