[中] [ENG] 舞出環保：回顧香港芭蕾舞團 x M+ 藝活《超越碳排放》

文：陳瑋鑫

自針對全球暖化趨勢而訂定的氣候變化條約《巴黎協定》於 2015 年底獲通過，全球各地都設定了碳中和的目標。香港行政長官在 2021 年《施政報告》中宣佈《香港氣候行動藍圖2050》，亦定下更進取的減碳排放策略和措施，加強減碳的目標進度。香港芭蕾舞團（港芭）與 M+ 曾經在 2022 年 8 月尾至 9 月初，攜手呈獻了一個名為《超越碳排放》的網上節目，透過八段舞蹈錄像，喚起大眾對氣候變化問題的關注。

香港芭蕾舞團藝術總監衛承天憶述，《超越碳排放》本來是為慶祝 M+ 建成開館而跟 M+ 的策展團隊共同策劃的現場舞蹈項目。原來的構思，是把舞蹈演出帶到 M+ 這座極具特色的建築物內，節目包括分別由駐團編舞胡頌威及美籍編舞 Stephen Shropshire 各自編創，打算於大堂內臨時搭建的舞台上上演的兩齣較大型舞作，以及另外七段，在大樓內不同空間角落上演，長約三分鐘的環境舞蹈。目標是讓觀眾隨著舞作欣賞，穿梭整座 M+ 大樓。

然而，除了其中五段舞蹈於 2021 年 11 月以《五小舞作》之名，率先在 M+ 進行過兩場首演，其餘作品的排練及原定的演出都因為新冠疫情再次來襲，所有藝文場館被迫全部關閉而不得不中斷及取消。因此整個項目後來就改成網上節目，於閉館期間取得准許，進入 M+ 進行拍攝，最終得以於舞作原定的演出地點進行攝製，並在完成後於網上進行了兩個星期的公開展影。

香港芭蕾舞團 x M+ 藝活《超越碳排放》 HK Ballet x M+ Live Art: Beyond Carbon

（照片由香港芭蕾舞團提供 Photo provided by Hong Kong Ballet）

以舞蹈創作回應氣候變化

談到為甚麼會以氣候變化及環保議題作主題，衛承天指出那時候在香港有不少討論，例如香港海平面升高將會帶來怎樣的影響，又有聲音要求香港於2050年達到碳中和，因此這個主題很自然地讓他及一眾編舞產生興趣，並把這個想法帶給了 M+ 的策展團隊，一起討論、構思整個節目。

決定了主題後，編舞們就各自進行研究及資料蒐集。期間策展團隊也邀請了一些科學家及關注氣候變化的專家跟部分編舞進行對話，讓編舞多了解香港及全球各地面對的氣候變化危機，以及我們每日的決定怎樣影響地球，我們又如何有責任地保護這個星球。這些對話讓各編舞可以對議題有更多認識及了解，並能夠深入思考，進行創作及構思主題訊息。

最後在《超越碳排放》上線的八齣小舞段，分別分成兩組播出，以兩個角度去探討環境危機：「凡人的無知」導致大自然與人類之間關係緊張；「人類的痕跡」呈現人類活動遺下的遍地物質痕跡。

《無形的回聲》反思速食時尚

身為港芭舞蹈員的馮競儀，當時就創作了《無形的回聲》這個小舞段。她指這個作品的靈感，主要來自網上有關海洋生物的相片，例如有海龜被困於膠管當中，被模塑成非自然的模樣，令人感慨今天大部分海洋生態都有被污染物影響，不少生物都是在塑膠廢料與垃圾中成長。

香港芭蕾舞團 x M+ 藝活《超越碳排放》 HK Ballet x M+ Live Art: Beyond Carbon

（照片由香港芭蕾舞團提供 Photo provided by Hong Kong Ballet）

為了回應這個議題，演出中的服裝及道具全部都由廢棄塑料袋製作。馮解釋原因是塑料袋價錢不高，而且容易買到，所以每次排練她也嘗試以塑料袋去構思動作。不過她沒有在排練後丟掉塑料袋或者破壞其原貌，而是儲存起來，演出中的一條長長塑料黑裙，正是馮利用一個個排練時候用過的塑料袋縫合而成。

作品選擇了在 M+ 大型而寬敞的展覽空間——潛空間作表演場地，馮為她自己及另外兩位舞者各編了一段獨舞。於《五小舞作》演出時，舞者分別在三個角落開始舞動，到最後會聚成一圈，而觀眾就會圍繞著他們欣賞。然而，當要轉化為舞蹈錄像，就變成了只有一個視點，難以呈現現場演出時的全方位觀賞體驗；但取而代之的是可以透過鏡頭，去加入一些近鏡，放大一些情感與動作細節。此外，塑膠袋在現場發出的聲音與其反映燈光的效果，都要重新思考如何能夠好好地透過影像呈現，即使作品已有現場演出的經驗，但要以錄像的形式重構，亦必須有所調整。

雖然眾舞段錄影因受音樂版權限制，而未能持續在線上發佈，但至少這個項目也讓人多一點留意環保及可持續發展的議題。衛承天提到雖然節目未能全部有機會在現場演出，但透過網上平台，一些海外舞迷也因而留意到這些港芭作品，而且也展示出舞團對環境議題的關心。馮競儀在創作過後，也更在意環境保育，事關起初她只是想把每個用過的塑膠袋留下來，到最後累積起來才驚覺自己用上了不少數量，在在提醒她生活上的每個微小決定，其實都會為地球帶來長遠的影響。

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陳瑋鑫

資深藝評人、媒體及劇場製作人，近年主要從事表演藝術研究及教育。

Dancing for the Environment: Looking back at HK Ballet x M+ Live Art: Beyond Carbon

Text: William Chan

Translator: Eva Kan

Since the Paris Agreement, a climate change treaty addressing global warming trends, was adopted at the end of 2015, targets for achieving carbon neutrality have been set across the globe. The Chief Executive of Hong Kong announced “Hong Kong's Climate Action Plan 2050” in the 2021 Policy Address, which also set out more proactive decarbonisation strategies and measures to enhance the progress of carbon reduction. Hong Kong Ballet (HKB) and the M+ museum in the West Kowloon Cultural District co-presented an online programme, Beyond Carbon, from late August to early September 2022 to raise public awareness of climate change issues through eight dance videos.

HKB's Artistic Director Septime Webre recalls that Beyond Carbon began as a joint live dance project by the company and M+'s curatorial team to celebrate the opening of M+. The original idea was to bring live dance performances to M+, a building with a unique character. These would include two longer dance works created by Choreographer-in-Residence Hu Songwei Ricky and American choreographer Stephen Shropshire respectively to be presented on a temporary stage built in the M+ foyer, as well as seven environmentally themed dance pieces of about three minutes each to be staged in different spaces around the building. The aim was to take audiences on a journey through the M+ building as they watched the dance works.

However, in the end only five of the pieces were performed live at M+ in November 2021 under the title Five Tiny Dances. The rehearsals and scheduled performances of the other works were disrupted and eventually cancelled due to the re-emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the closure of all arts and cultural venues. The project as a whole was then converted into an online programme. During the closure period, permission was granted to enter M+ for filming, and the dance works were therefore performed and filmed in their originally planned locations. The resulting dance videos were then screened online for two weeks.

Creating dance to respond to climate change

Speaking of why climate change and environmental issues were chosen as the theme, Webre says there were a lot of discussions at that time on topics such as the impact of rising sea levels in Hong Kong, and there were calls for Hong Kong to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The theme naturally intrigued him and the various choreographers. They brought the idea to M+'s curatorial team, and together discussed and designed the whole programme.

After the theme had been decided, the choreographers conducted their own research and data gathering. Meanwhile, the curatorial team invited scientists and experts concerned about climate change to dialogue with some of the choreographers, helping them to know more about the climate crisis in Hong Kong and across the globe, how our daily decisions affect the earth, and how we can take responsibility to protect the planet. These discussions let the choreographers gain a better understanding of the issues, so that they could think deeply to create and conceptualise the themes of their works.

In the end, eight short videos of choreography from Beyond Carbon were grouped into two categories and screened online, exploring the environmental crisis from the following perspectives: “Mortal Ignorance” (the tension between nature and humankind), and “Human Traces”, (the material traces left on the earth by human activity).

香港芭蕾舞團 x M+ 藝活《超越碳排放》 HK Ballet x M+ Live Art: Beyond Carbon

（照片由香港芭蕾舞團提供 Photo provided by Hong Kong Ballet）

Invisible Echo - reflecting on fast fashion

The piece created by HKB dancer Feng Jingyi for the project was called Invisible Echo. She says her inspiration came from photos of marine life on the internet, such as a sea turtle trapped in a plastic pipe and moulded to an unnatural shape. It made her sad that today most marine ecosystems are affected by pollutants, and many sea creatures are forced to exist amidst plastic waste and rubbish.

To address this issue, all the costumes and props for her performance were made from discarded plastic bags. Feng explains that since plastic bags are inexpensive and easily accessible, she tried to use them in every rehearsal as she choreographed the movements. After rehearsals, she did not throw away the plastic bags or change their original appearance but instead kept them and sewed them all together to create a long, black plastic dress for the performance itself.

香港芭蕾舞團 x M+ 藝活《超越碳排放》 HK Ballet x M+ Live Art: Beyond Carbon

（照片由香港芭蕾舞團提供 Photo provided by Hong Kong Ballet）

Found Space, a cavernous exhibition space in M+, was chosen as the performance venue for this piece. Feng choreographed three solo dances for herself and two other dancers. During the performance of Five Tiny Dances, the dancers started dancing in three separate corners and eventually came together in a circle, with the audience surrounding them. However, when the piece was transformed into a dance video, there was only one point of view, which made it difficult to present an all-round viewing experience the way the live performance did. On the other hand, the video made it possible to add some close-ups and zoom in on the emotions and details of the movements through the camera. Also, it was necessary to rethink how the sound made by the plastic bags and the effect of light reflected on them on-site could be presented effectively on film. Even though the work had already been performed in a live setting, it had to be adjusted when transformed into video format.

香港芭蕾舞團 x M+ 藝活《超越碳排放》 HK Ballet x M+ Live Art: Beyond Carbon

（照片由香港芭蕾舞團提供 Photo provided by Hong Kong Ballet）

Although the dance videos could not continue to be viewed online long-term due to music copyright restrictions, at least the project drew attention to the issues of environmental protection and sustainable development. Webre notes that, although the whole programme could not be performed live, the online platform did allow these HKB works to be viewed by overseas dance fans and demonstrated the company's concern about environmental issues.

After creating her work, Feng also became more concerned about environmental conservation. This was because, while initially she simply wanted to keep every plastic bag she used, in the end the number of accumulated bags made her realise how many of them she had used. This reminded her that every tiny decision she made in her daily life would have a long-term impact on the earth.

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William Chan

A veteran arts critic, media and theatre producer. Has been mainly engaged in performing arts research and education in recent years.