表演場雙週刊第九期: 專題報導「 克里斯汀．赫佐 ─ 來自法國的鬼才藝術家」 The Art Venue Bi-Weekly Issue 009 - Featured Story: Christian Rizzo – A dance icon from France (20190704)

法國蒙彼里埃國家編舞中心藝術總監─ 克里斯汀．赫佐，是當代舞蹈代表性人物。從二十六歲開始成為職業舞者，從未師從任何人，對舞蹈的認知都是從小到大在夜店中學回來的;直至三十五歲成為編舞家，才開始創出自己的一套動作 (他強調不一定是舞蹈)，引起歐洲當代舞蹈界的騷動。

在剛過去的六月，赫佐將《來自真實 的故事》帶到香港，是他的作品首次 在香港觀眾面前亮相，同時為西九自由空間的開幕打響頭炮。在港期間， 他還要主持一場公開講座，及帶領一 個五天的舞蹈工作坊;因此場主非常感恩和榮幸，赫佐願意接受「緊急」 邀請，在離港的當天進行專訪，聊天南地北。

赫佐在香港的日子，剛好遇上兩次大規模的遊行示威，分別有一百萬 及二百萬人出席，訪問時話題很自 然便談到世界的混亂，又串連到網 絡訊息發布。他說他仍相信人性 (humanity)，但認為現今24小時在線的時代，當人們慣於待在網上獨處，問題便會出現。

擺在眼前不等於真實

「社交媒體的興起，可讓人們沈迷其 中，變得自我中心;虛擬世界看似熱 鬧，其實卻沒有真正與人溝通，失去 了與人們見面所得到的益處。」他舉例，從前坐火車的時候，大家會跟坐 在自己附近的陌生人打招呼或聊天， 但現在人們上到火車後，便低頭滑手機，不會跟人溝通，也不會去觀察身邊的事物。

只埋頭在網絡裡，會錯過感受真實的世界，包括忽略現場表演的精彩之 處。赫佐告訴場主，當他問旁人有否 看過他的演出時，很多都會回答說 有，但問到他們在哪裡看，得到的回 覆卻是在網上看影片。赫佐說，看錄 影不等於真的看過那個演出，因為舞 台演出的現場氣氛、在場觀眾的反 應、當時的環境等等，都是演出的一部分，不在現場觀看是無法感受到這 些種種。

另外，他又指出，現在資訊泛濫，也讓輕易得到資訊的人們，誤以為已掌握了知識、體會到經歷，例如在網上看過烹 飪的短片，便自以為學會片中示範的菜式。「這是個人們將資訊與經驗混淆的時代，令人的思想變得簡單及薄弱，連 帶影響到思維、生活品質、對事物的理解、身體反應等等都失去了多樣性。文化應由豐富的內涵累積出來，如果藝術 家或創作人的思維和經驗都是沒有層次，他們所創作的作品都會變得膚淺， 缺乏文化厚度。」

要親身領會內在靈魂

赫佐再以自身作例，證明虛擬與現實怎樣予人截然不同的影響。他說很喜歡觸摸得到的東西，因為當一個人接觸一件物件時，看似只是身體動作， 但其實腦袋也需要配合，是給身體 (physical)與思想(mental)的訓 練。「身體的肌肉是有記憶的，通過與外物接觸，記憶便從肌肉傳遞到腦袋;例如拿起一本印刷書看，不論是 身體、還是腦袋，都會有了記憶，所 以容易保存起來。」

反觀社交媒體或電郵傳遞的訊息，因為 缺少了觸摸那一環，對他而言不容易保 存下來，轉過頭便忘記了。他續道，接 觸一本印刷書，能感受到背後出版人的 靈魂;但一個電郵，卻是冷冰冰的，做 不到相同的效果。同樣道理，藝術作品 的好壞，亦是看其本身能否載有創作者 的靈魂;赫佐話題一轉，開始談到自 對表演藝術好壞的看法。

創作需要做選擇及承擔後果

「藝術作品不同於工業生產的產品，其誕生不是純粹只為消費，判斷優劣要看藏於背後的靈魂。所以如果做出純粹商 業、受人觀迎的演出，一點也不難，但如果是高質的藝術創作，創作者便要有所付出及願意冒險。」赫佐認為，好的 藝術創作是必需創作者本身有深厚的經驗與經歷，然後轉化成創作靈感，再製作出優秀的演出作品。

常常被問到如何創作出成功的作品， 他的回應是:「藝術創作不是要找到成功方法(solution)才創作，而是先要嘗試及經驗，從錯誤中學習 (trial and error)。另一方面，作為 藝術家，要往內看，亦要向外看，即 是創作者需要尊重觀眾，要問自己透 過作品可以帶給些甚麼給觀眾;可以 是關於個人深度的經歷，但不應有自我良好(ego)的成分;而且應該超越自己的限制;比如頭腦想像受限制，便會導致身體動作受限制，演出便不會好看。」

Christian Rizzo is the director of ICI – CCN Montpellier - Occitanie. His work From A True Story premiered in Hong Kong in June and was the first official performance of the newly opened Freespace. Winona of The Art Venuehad the pleasure of interviewing him on the last day of his stay in Hong Kong, catching him with a last-minute interview invitation.

Rizzo became a professional dancer at 26, even though he never received any formal dance training. All the body movements he learned were from clubbing. When he was 35, he became a choreographer and invented his own set of body movements (which does not have to be dance, he stressed).

During his visit to Hong Kong, there were two large-scale demonstrations that saw millions of people taking to the streets. Rizzo said he still believes in humanity, but when people become accustomed to being alone and self-centred, problems are bound to occur. The rise of social media andpeople’s addiction to it make peopleself-centred. It seems as if people are busy communicating with others, but the real communication is actually lost. People are missing the benefits of meeting people and observing the world around them.

Sometimes people would tell Rizzo that they had seen videos of his works, but he would tell them that they had not really seen his works. This is because a performance is all about being live, which encompasses everything from the atmosphere in the theatre, the reactions of the audience, and the environment at the time. Many people now think that because they have easy access to all kinds of information, they possess experience and knowledge. Yet watching a cooking video is not the same as knowing how to cook. There is a confusion between information and experience. This simple-mindedness impacts thinking, the quality of life, the understanding of different issues, and even physical movements. As a result, everything loses complexity and diversity. In contrast, a culture is rich because of its different layers. If an artist or a creative worker has a very simple mind-set with very little experience in life, their works will lack taste and cultural depth.

Rizzo like things that can be touched, as touching is an exercise for both the body and the mind. The muscles remember when the body moves. This is just like reading a book; the whole body, including the brain, will remember the experience and the memory lasts. However, reading information from social media or emails is different because the information is easily forgotten. Rizzo usually does not open promotional emails. He said that when he holds and reads a book, he can sense the soul of the writer. An email does not give him the same sensation because it is cold.

This is the same as artistic creation. Whether a work is good or bad depends on the creator, who imbues the work with his or her soul. A work is not a manufactured product for consumption. Manufactured products have no soul. It is easy to create a performance that sells, but good artists make tough choices, take risks, and bear the consequences. His or her layers of experience will become ideas and body movements during the creative process, and a high-quality performance will result.