Mr YEUNG Chun-kong, Daniel
Modern Dancer & Choreographer

According to Mr YEUNG Chun-kong, Daniel, a renowned modern dancer and choreographer, it was generally believed that dance training should begin at an early age as it took years of training to achieve body flexibility.  On the contrary, he considered that he was able to create his own dances exactly because he started training late and his dances were free from any conventional constraints or any limitations by schools of dance.  Mr YEUNG realised his own physical limitations and thus underwent more intensive training and  tried to learn different dances in order to enhance his dancing skills.

The reasons for his application for a scholarship from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund (the Fund) were that Mr YEUNG hoped to challenge himself and tried to unleash his potential in choreography.  At that time, he believed if he had failed to get the scholarship, it would have proved that it was not suitable for him to continue his development in choreography.

In 1996, Mr YEUNG successfully got the scholarship to study choreography in the Netherlands.  The scholarship not only opened the door to dance, but also widened his horizons.  He said that Amsterdam, a multi-cultural society, had a rich collection of historical and contemporary works, as well as a number of art museums.  During his overseas studies, Mr YEUNG watched many dance performances which expanded his artistic vision and gave him a valuable lesson for his dancing career and in choreography.

Mr YEUNG has endeavored to improve himself.  During his overseas studies, he took the initiative to approach other overseas artists with a view to creating works together and learning from each other.  Later on, he was invited to perform in the United States and Germany on behalf of the Netherlands.  He considered the Fund a bridge which not only enabled him to know more about art and dance professionals, but also led him to the art and dance world of the Netherlands and even other countries.

Mr YEUNG has proved himself that, even without long academic and professional training in dancing, he could still unleash his talent and create representative works with his passion for dance.  In the long run, he hoped to focus on choreography so as to raise the artistic level of dancing in Hong Kong and to help and support young artists to develop their potential.

Mr YEUNG thought that the scholarship could provide arts practitioners with more opportunities for professional and dedicated preparation, including working on research studies and raising their artistic literacy.  He hoped that the Fund could keep help those arts practitioners to upgrade their artistic levels and present art creations of a higher standard to Hong Kong audience.