Tirion Law: Time As Foundation For A Ballerina’s Life 台上一分鐘，台下十年功
Interviewed by Jennifer J. Lau
Translated by Elaine Sun
AS FEATURED IN EDITION NO. 6 OF FETE CHINOISE MAGAZINE: TIME + TEMPO
Her repertoire with Hong Kong Ballet includes Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, Pinocchio, Coppèlia, Don Quixote, Lady of the Camellias, Le Corsaire, Sechs Tanze and Serenade — The Vertiginious Thrill of Exactitude being her favourite.Tirion continues to train despite the 2020 pandemic and shares much of her wisdom as a professional ballerina on her Youtube channel.
憑著158厘米的身高，這位出生於香港，隨後在新西蘭受訓的年輕芭蕾舞蹈家充份地享受著成為加拿大國家芭蕾舞團一員的時光。Tirion Law於2018年正式加入加拿大國家芭蕾舞團。她出演過的節目包括《愛麗絲夢遊仙境》、《胡桃夾子》、《安娜．卡列尼娜》、《夢》、《帕奎塔》、《The Second Detail》和《The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude》。此前，她在香港芭蕾舞團演出包括《天鵝湖》、《沉睡的美人》、《胡桃夾子》、《羅密歐與朱麗葉》、《皮諾曹》、《科佩利亞》、《唐吉坷德》、《茶花女》、《海盜》、《律動的神采》和《小夜曲》。其中，《The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude》乃是她最鍾愛的。儘管2020年新冠病毒爆發，Tirion仍在繼續接受訓練，並且在她的YouTube頻道上跟觀眾分享了自己作為職業芭蕾舞演員的經驗。
Tirion Law with Artists of the Ballet in Class on Stage. photography: Karolina Kuras. Courtesy of The National Ballet of Canada.
SPECIAL ENCOUNTERS
Tirion, which means kind and gentle, was a name I chose for myself. This unique name would correspond perfectly with the one-of-a-kind experiences in my ballet career. I started in Hong Kong with very supportive parents. Although ballet school was an hour away from home and I would attend classes after my regular school day, my parents would wait for me to eat dinner each night and my mom would pick me up after each class. This parental support is hard to find in Hong Kong, and I am extremely grateful for my parents.
My dream came true when I came to Canada to be part of the National Ballet of Canada, one of the most well-known and greatest ballet companies in the world. I felt honoured to perform at the Four Seasons Performing Arts Centre — the largest theatre I had danced in. I always feel good in the theatre, the audience is very active and often gives standing ovations, which is not as common in other cities. And I feel very blessed because I have the privilege of being mentored by Xiaonan Yu — the first ethnic Chinese principal ballet dancer of NBC. I am especially fond of her as she would always look after me when I was injured, and is open to sharing her experiences with all.
ON TIME
I always knew I would live abroad as a professional ballet dancer. In my home city, there is only one academy — The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts — but it requires its pupils to finish their high school exams before applying to the school. My ballet teacher believed that by the age of 18 or 19, I would have missed the best window of opportunity for professional ballet school. So at the age of 16, I went to the New Zealand School of Dance for training. That is also why today, I am diligently studying for my GED.
Tirion為自己選擇的名字帶有善良柔和的意思。這個名字的性質與她獨特的芭蕾舞生涯經歷完全吻合。小時候在香港，儘管她的芭蕾學校離家有一個小時的路程，並且還需要完成白天的課程才能去參加，但Tirion的父母十分支持她。他們會每晚等她一起吃晚飯，媽媽還會在下課後接她。Tirion表示這樣的父母在香港很難找到，也使她非常感恩。
來加拿大，對Tirion來說就像是美夢成真。首先，能成為世界上其中一個最知名、最偉大的芭蕾舞團的加拿大國家芭蕾舞團的成員就像奇蹟。Tirion表示在她跳過舞的劇院中，在四季表演藝術中心演出是極為難忘的經驗。這個地方是她見過最漂亮、最宏偉的舞台。她坦言：“我很享受在這裡演出，觀眾們都非常活躍，經常起立鼓掌，這在香港很少見”。最後，由舞團的第一位華裔首席芭蕾舞演員于曉楠指導，讓Tirion感到非常幸運。于曉楠現在作為舞團的導師和助教，也非常照顧Tirion，會在Tirion受傷時照顧她，並慷慨地與所有人分享她的心得。
Tirion說她從一開始便明白當有一天她成為了一名職業芭蕾舞演員，自己將會長期生活在國外。在她的家鄉香港，只有一所專業芭蕾學院：香港演藝學院。但這間學院要求學生在申請入學前必須完成高中考試。但Tirion的芭蕾舞老師相信，到18歲時，作為專業芭蕾舞者的最佳機會與培訓時光已經流逝了。因此，在16歲時Tirion前往新西蘭舞蹈學院接受相關的訓練。這就是為什麼如今她正努力學習，備考通識教育文憑。
“Behind each dance, each perfect performance, lies 1000 practices. 每場舞蹈，每場完美的表演背後，都背負著1000次練習的血汗在其中。”
Because of my decision to pursue ballet, I missed out on quality time with friends and family. Ballet replaced a large part of my social life. I would always be rushing from school to ballet class — which were at the opposite ends of the Hong Kong MTR. I did not go to see movies with friends and I hardly ate out with classmates. Weekends would be filled up with more classes. Yet it was my dream to be a ballerina and I had to pursue it. It was and is hard to strike a balance between studies and training, but I encourage everyone to pursue their dreams with perseverance.
In 2019, I proved myself and had the honour to be coached and encouraged by the famous American choreographer William Forsythe. Even though the performance we worked on was only 11 minutes long, it was the most tiring piece I have ever completed.
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由於Tirion想成為專業的芭蕾舞者的決定，她錯過了許多與朋友和家人的美好時光。芭蕾舞佔用了她大部分的社交生活。為了趕到芭蕾舞教室，她總是從香港地鐵的一端趕到另一端。她沒有和朋友一起去看電影，也幾乎沒有和同學一起吃過飯。她的周末只是被更多的訓練佔用而已。Tirion分享道：“我很遺憾我錯過了與他們在一起的寶貴時刻，但是成為一名芭蕾舞演員是我的夢想，我必須追求這一夢想。”她知道在學習和訓練之間很難取得平衡，但鼓勵她的觀眾也要堅持不懈地去追求夢想。
在2019年，Tirion也證明了自己的能力，得到了著名的美國編舞家William Forsythe的指導和鼓勵。儘管表演時間只有11分鐘長，但她表示，這是她完成過的作品中最辛苦的表演。
A Chinese idiom represents the sentiments of each performance: “台上一分鐘，台下十年功” loosely translated as “a minute on stage requires ten years off-stage.” I remember one of my favourite performances being only 10 minutes on stage, but we prepared for months and months. Rehearsing the dance was so difficult, and to gain stamina we would keep redoing it, we would go to the gym to run, some would go swimming just to be prepared for those 10 minutes on stage. The audience does not know this — they might enjoy the dance but not fully understand how hard we worked and how many injuries we sustained. Behind each dance, each perfect performance, lies 1000 practices. It is also not limited to one performance, as ballerinas dedicate their lives and bodies to the art.
Brendan Saye, Jordana Daumec, Tirion Law, Jeannine Haller and Skylar Campbell in The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude. photography: Karolina Kuras. Courtesy of The National Ballet of Canada.
TIME WELL SPENT
During the pandemic and after much consideration, I returned home to be with my family as the company declared that they would postpone all in-person practices and performances until September. I hope to continue virtual ballet classes with the company and return next season to perform. In the meantime, I am also sharing my experiences as a ballerina on Youtube, in hopes to encourage and enlighten the next generation of ballerinas. The dedication and time it takes to become a ballerina requires unshakable perseverance and resilience, and that, is time well spent.
在採訪中，Tirion提到一句中文諺語“台上一分鐘，台下十年功”。她非常認同這說法。回想起她最喜歡的芭蕾舞表演，這位年輕的芭蕾者表示：“雖然舞台上只有10分鐘，但我們已經準備了好幾個月。排練舞蹈是如此的困難，為了訓練耐力，我們會不斷地重做，並且常去健身房跑步或去游泳，只為了舞台上那十分鐘做準備。觀眾並不會知道這一點，他們可能會喜歡我們的表演，但卻無法完全體會到我們付出了多少努力，身體遭受了多少傷害。每場舞蹈，每場完美的表演背後，都背負著1000次練習的血汗在其中”。這種汗水不僅限於一次的演出，芭蕾舞者們將自己生命都奉獻給了藝術。在新冠病毒期間，在公司宣布所有實體演出都將推遲到9月份後，經過深思熟慮Tirion決定回到香港與家人團聚。Tirion希望繼續與公司合作進行虛擬芭蕾課，並在下一個季度順利返場表演。她還利用這段時間在自己的YouTube頻道上分享自己作為芭蕾舞演員的種種經歷，期盼以此鼓勵和啟發下一代的芭蕾舞者們。她最後說成為一名芭蕾舞者需要奉獻時間和精神，更需要毅力，但這一切都是值得的。
photography: Karolina Kuras. Courtesy of The National Ballet of Canada.
sponsored by ferris wheel press.
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