[中][ENG] 讓音樂被看見,舞蹈被聽到:專訪韓國編舞和音樂創作人金在德
Let Music Be Seen and Dance Be Heard: An interview with Kim Jaeduk, Korean choreographer and composer
文:陳國慧
韓國舞蹈網誌(Dance Webzine)在2022年第一卷149期,刊登了舞蹈評論家金彩鉉評鑑韓國魔童之桌現代舞團(Modern Table Contemporary Dance Company)在2021年3月於首爾西江大學瑪麗堂大劇院演出的最新作品《Ham:beth》。作品貫徹很多過去舞團製作的模式,由近年得到不少海外藝術節青睞的舞團藝術總監金在德擔任編舞和音樂創作,他自己亦參與了現場音樂奏唱的角色。
金在德的多才多藝在亞洲新一代編舞來說是很獨特的,金彩鉉甚至在文章中認為這種集「編舞、歌手、作家和舞者」於一身的創作人,在國際間是罕有的,但他一直在不同角色之間保持平衡。據金彩鉉講述,在韓國本土和海外上演多次、首演於2006年的《Darkness Poomba》有令人想重複觀看的吸引力。作品開首,兩位舞者的角力在低沉的弦樂聲與俐落的敲擊樂音中開展,樂音的對質與身體的博弈在視覺與聽覺上互為補充,然而有時候又產生張力。
김재덕 프로필/(Photo provided by Narang Choi)
金在德在其工作室接受專訪時談及創作模式:有六成會是日間在舞室、黃昏後在家中音樂室,透過動作思考音樂的顏色,然後用樂器演;另外四成則是先有音樂再配合舞蹈。他覺得難說哪種較好,倒是和運氣有關。在創作過程中,編舞或音樂創作先行,對他來說是一體的,也是一起展開的。然而,他承認比較享受這種很個人的音樂創作,過程中會較享受,他示範著彈了一段加入不同樂器的聲音,「靈感直接就出來」,自由度很大。
編舞雖也是自己一人做,但之後也要由舞者演繹或與他們再創作,「透過與人溝通,必須跨過界限」,因牽涉到不同的人,過程難免較費力。雖然如此,他強調兩者分不開,音樂就是舞蹈,舞蹈就是音樂,他希望其作品中的音樂是可以「被看見」,而舞蹈則可以「被聽到」。金在德說在創作時要區分音樂中的速度(tempo)和節奏(rhythm)。編舞時聽著音樂拍子,一邊展示給舞者看;但呈現tempo便不會用音樂,就按認為需要的速度來做。
然而創作畢竟最後要上舞台,並且是現場,金在德說,這時掌握音樂準繩度要做的工作會較舞蹈多,特別是他在音樂室做的音樂,如想在劇場中重現,劇場音響監督要做的便很多。他坦然若公演當天出現問題,一般稍為改動編舞就可;「萬一真的有必須放棄,我會放棄音樂,透過身體,我可以用其他方式表達那音樂,因為我也是舞蹈家。」
Darkness Poomba/照片由KCC Music Festival提供 Photo provided by KCC Music Festival
場地如何與音樂配合也是金在德必會考慮的重點:若在細小的空間中演出,我便不會用迴聲(reverb sound),樂器數量也會盡量少;但如是面向大眾的祝祭活動,就要做到爆炸性的效果,不論音樂或舞蹈亦然,因此空間有時會是關鍵的元素。他說曾經在美國一個舞蹈節中表演,音響的準備不太好,但又必須開演,於是大家比平時用了更多能量去表演。結果演出很成功,觀眾並不知音響 情況不理想。當然這也是在海外巡演時無可奈何的情況,藝術家就地適應的能力可見一斑。
自言聽很多不同音樂的金在德,除了使用韓國樂器外,日本樂器、中國樂器、印度樂器等全都會用,結合出一種具當代色彩的亞洲聲音。金在德不少作品的音樂都帶濃郁的傳統韓國節奏風格,動作與音樂接合綿密,視覺與聽覺緊緊交織,然而他對作品是否需要音樂是另有看法。他電郵了一段由一群當地B-boy舞者在一個廢棄空間中演出的影像給我們,《Madang Interaction》整段三十分鐘表演都沒有音樂。他說本來反覆想過到底要不要加,但越看就越覺得音樂是不必要的,結果就決定沒有音樂:「空間所給予的聲音,我覺得已很明顯,作為表演的話有很多樣的顏色存在。」
然而當將之拍成舞蹈電影時,籌備的政府人員就覺得有音樂較好,因為不會悶。金在德表示:「我們的藝術立場明顯很不同,他不會覺得在這樣的空間,空間本身就可變成樂器。」這正好呼應了金在德認為「沒有音樂也是一種音樂」的體現;同時,「不動」也是「透過不動」變成了一種動的表現。他作品的吸引力,正是即使靜止無聲,觀眾也會感覺到張力強烈的湧動。
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鳴謝:梁曉端、梁承謙
參考資料:
《Darkness Poomba》:https://vimeo.com/199830802
Let Music Be Seen and Dance Be Heard: An interview with Kim Jaeduk, Korean choreographer and composer
Original text: Bernice Chan
Translator: Charmaine Lee
The 149th edition of Dance Webzine published a review by dance critic Kim Chaehyun of Modern Table Contemporary Dance Company's latest show, Ham:beth, which took place in March 2021 at Sogang University’s Mary Hall in Seoul. The show maintains the consistent style of this dance group’s productions, with celebrated director Kim Jaeduk choreographing, composing music and singing.
This kind of all-round ability is very rare in Asia’s new generation of choreographers. Indeed, Kim Chaehyun points out in her review that artists like this, who wear the hats of choreographer, singer, songwriter and dancer at the same time, are few and far between even internationally, but the artist succeeds in balancing out his different roles. In the review, Kim Chaehyun notes that Darkness Poomba, created in 2006 and performed many times locally and internationally since then, is attractive enough for audiences to watch it again and again. The show kicks off with two dancers interacting against a background of music consisting of low-bass strings and sharp sounds from percussion. The contrasts in music and dance moves complement each other yet also generate tension.
Ham:beth/攝 Photo : BAKI
Interviewed in his studio, Kim Jaeduk said that he creates 60% of his work in the dance studio during the day, or in his music studio in the evening, thinking how to express the colours of the music through movement, then playing it on musical instruments. The other 40% of work is created by composing music, with dance following later. He finds it hard to say which process he likes more, but it's largely to do with luck. During the creative process, it does not matter if the choreography or the music starts first, as both are the same to him, and he creates them both together. However, he does especially enjoy writing music as that is very personal. He demonstrates playing something using different instruments: “intuition flows directly”, he says. There is a lot of freedom in the process.
Although he creates the choreography himself, it will have to be performed by dancers, so he has to choreograph again when he works with them. “We need to cross the boundaries by communicating with others,” he says. Because different people are involved, the process inevitably takes a lot of effort. However, Kim stresses that the two elements cannot be separated – music is dance, and dance is music. He hopes the music in his work can be 'seen', and the dance can be 'heard'. When he writes music, he has to distinguish between tempo and rhythm. He listens to the beat and shows the dancers the rhythm, but demonstrating tempo needs no music, you just do it at the speed you think is right.
Darkness Pooma/照片由KCC Music Festival提供 Photo provided by KCC Music Festival
In the end the work has to go on stage and be performed live, and getting the music right takes much more effort than the dance, especially the music he writes in his own music studio. If he wants the music to be played in the theatre, it creates a lot of work for the sound director. If there are still issues on the day of performance, they can usually be fixed by changing the choreography a little, but “If I really have to give up, I will give up the music, because I can express the music through my body or in other ways and I am also a dancer.”
How the performance venue and the music work together is an important consideration for him. “If the show takes place in a small space I won’t use reverb sound and will use fewer instruments. But if the show is a big festival, for instance, music and dance have to achieve an explosive effect. So the size of the space is sometimes the key,” he says. He recalls performing at a dance festival in the USA where the sound preparation was not very good. However, the show had to start, so he and his team went all out to perform with even more energy than usual. The show was a big success, as the audience did not notice the problems with the sound. This kind of eventuality can't be helped when touring overseas, and shows how artists can adapt on the spot.
Kim says he listens to a wide range of music, and uses Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Indian instruments to engineer contemporary Asian music. Many of his works are imbued with strong traditional Korean rhythms, and feature close interaction between movement and music, and the senses of hearing and sight. He has an unusual view on whether dance works always need music. He emailed us a video of Madang Interaction, a show he staged for some local B-boy dancers in an abandoned space. There was no music for the whole 30 minutes. He says he had agonized over whether to add music, and had tried doing so, but in the end he decided music was not necessary. “The sound from the space itself was evident, and the show already had so many colours,” he explains.
However, when the dance piece was filmed, government officials working on the project thought that music had to be added, as otherwise the show would be boring. “We have very different artistic views. They didn't understand that, in a space of this kind, the space itself can become a musical instrument,” Kim says. In the same way, stillness can also be an expressive form of 'movement'. The attraction of Kim's works is that, even when there is stillness, the audience can feel a strong surge of energy.
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Acknowledgment: Melissa Leung, Leung Shing-him
Reference:
Dance Webzine: http://koreadance.kr/main/index.php
魔童之桌現代舞團網頁Modern Table Contemporary Dance Company: http://moderntable.co.kr/
《Darkness Poomba》: https://vimeo.com/199830802
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陳國慧
Bernice Chan
國際演藝評論家協會(香港分會)總經理,策劃超過五十個本地和國際藝評項目。
Bernice Chan is the General Manager of the International Association of Theatre Critics (Hong Kong). She has curated over 50 local and international projects about the performing arts criticism.
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