Ong: When Yuntao invited me to choreograph this work, these two Zhuangzi chapters immediately came to mind. The six “imperfect” figures in The Sign of Virtue Complete became a metaphor rather than characters I wished to depict, offering ancient insights that remain relevant today. The collaboration also involves six wheelchair dancers and six HKDance dancers, which naturally echoed the text and inspired the creation.

Kevin: When Tze Shen proposed these writings as creative inspiration, it struck me like a thunderbolt and prompted me to ask myself: why has para dance sport always been about meeting competition standards? Why do we have limitations? Dance as a medium should never be bound by constraints; it is capable of holding far more, just like what is conveyed in Wayfaring Beyond.

Ong: We began rehearsals with breathing techniques of Chinese martial arts and inner observation to help dancers focus and connect. They moved from meeting to knowing one another, and from seeing each other to seeing oneself. After several rehearsals, a rapport was built through physical contact. They moved past wondering how high to leap or how many turns to make to accommodate each other. Gone are the mental frameworks and preconceived notions, and they can now intuitively trust and explore each other’s unique physicality. We hope to create a new dance language together through this.

Yang: We all agreed that the 12 dancers should neither be separated nor just showcase their own repertoire. Both sides must break certain limitations to develop new dimensions. Both HKDance and wheelchair dancers face physical constraints, yet these limitations spark fresh perspectives. When wheelchair dancers said they wanted to learn from us, in fact we were learning from them too. Without this collaboration, we might never have found an answer to what freedom, limitation and even being free and easy mean.

Evina: This is about breaking down the boundaries between “how we see you?” and “how you see us?” As Yuntao said, overcoming limitations sparks fresh perspectives—when two dancers share similar heights and centres of gravity, dancing together comes naturally. But when a non-disabled dancer and a wheelchair dancer have different centres of gravity, dancing together becomes a challenge—one that prompts new ways of thinking.

Ong: Initially, both groups of dancers were very careful with each other, worried they might hurt one another. Despite different physical conditions, dancers instinctively know how to protect themselves while performing, and they quickly found a balance. The bigger revelation was that the six wheelchair dancers have different physical conditions and movements they could master— just like the non-disabled dancers each having their own unique qualities. Most importantly, the process of how these 12 dancers came to know and grow with one another mattered more than the final work. This also made me reflect on my own body, and even on how I dance.

Kevin: Before creating the piece, I wondered whether Wayfaring Beyond would be Chinese dance, Latin dance, or contemporary dance. The more we rehearsed, the more I realised it needed no such category, and there is no need for definition. In the past, when I regarded para dance as a competitive sport, there was a focus on controlling dancers’ movements. This time, however, I learnt to observe the dancers’ postures afresh and think from their bodies outward. Once, when wheelchair dancer Yu Chun-yin crawled along the floor for a drink of water, I was struck by the elegance of his movement—just a simple, elemental action, yet so authentic and natural. In the performance arts, we can be too deliberate in pursuing a certain way of expression, and that becomes an obstacle.

Evina: This is the first collaboration between CHKPDSA and a professional dance company, and it inspired me to have more artistic reflections. Para dance sport has traditionally centred on Latin and standard dances, so contemporary and Chinese dance are new explorations for us. We began to see para dance not only as a sport but also as an art form, raising the question of how these two worlds might integrate in the future.

Kevin: Having coached para dance for two years, Evina and I have long discussed the need for artistic change. In terms of artistic thinking and expression, we may need to break free from the limitations of Latin dance. Wheelchair dancers are often tense during competitions. The expressive language of the dance is limited, sometimes leaving the world confused about what we are doing. But creating Wayfaring Beyond had been a profound experience for me, prompting me to reflect on the essence of dance and choreography. Through the concept of “Men do not mirror themselves in running water— they mirror themselves in still water. Only what is still can still the stillness of other things.” from The Sign of Virtue Complete, it made me realise that dance is not about pursuing evergreater technique, but about understanding the message we wish to convey.

Yang: Both parties explored and experimented from multiple angles to create this crossdisciplinary collaboration. Though rooted in traditional Chinese philosophy, The Sign of Virtue Complete and The Free and Easy Wanderer feel strikingly contemporary and align with the artistic ideals we pursue today. Inclusion remains foundational in the performing arts as it helps form human relationships—between performer and audience, or between performers. Through others, we see ourselves, or come to understand ourselves. True inclusion is not simply placing different groups together, nor is performance about entertainment or technical display; it is about raising questions and reflecting on meaning, a search with no final answer.

Evina: Building an inclusive society involves more than integrating the disabled and non-disabled; it also includes diverse ethnicities and communities. How should we communicate to achieve inclusivity? We have been reflecting on this with each other and with No Limits. There may be future collaborations with people of different abilities, bringing together diverse groups to create on a larger scale. There are so many possibilities, and so much more to explore.