Work-life balance. Dancing. Cynthia Chan dancing Argentine tango

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1 Work-life balance Dancing Cynthia Chan dancing Argentine tango 38 October 2015

2 aplus COUNTING BEATS Whether they re gliding across polished hardwood or improvising in high heels, some CPAs just can t get enough of the dance floor. Tigger Chaturabul talks to Institute members with rhythm to find out what gets them moving to the music Photography by Gareth Brown Every turn is sharp. Every glide is sensual. When Cynthia Chan dances, her mind is focused and her body is responsive. The General Manager at a United States-based medical device manufacturing company and member of the Hong Kong Institute of CPAs discovered a love for Argentine tango s dramatic movements and intensity earlier this year through the Institute s Dance Interest Group, of which she is Deputy Convenor. It s a challenging and attractive dance style, says Chan, and it requires a sensitive connection between partners so you really need to concentrate. Accountants by day, dancers by night. CPAs like Chan, who are attuned to the way their bodies move, find dance to be the perfect outlet for creative release and healthy relaxation. Their passion drives them to take their interest a step further and improve their technique each passing week, giving them something to look forward to as the weekend approaches. These Institute members shed the stereotype of dance being a niche hobby among accountants and embrace the music with their body and soul. Chan credits the conception of the Dance Interest Group in 2009 to fellow Institute member Sara Chu and her experience in ballroom dance. Today, Simty Yau is Convenor of the interest group, which has more than 1,300 members, although only a portion of them actively participate in dance classes and monthly dance dinners. Chan s interest piqued after attending a Latin dance performance five years ago as she was searching for a studio to take Latin dance lessons. I found out about the interest group from the Institute s e-circular and was surprised to know that the Institute offered the same kind of course I was looking for, she says. Her experience began with Latin and ballroom dance lessons before moving on to Jazz and Argentine Tango. I love Jazz because we take the class together as a team, she says. Argentine tango is also great because you don t need a stable, consistent partner like you do for ballroom dance. Chan especially enjoys Argentine tango s improvisation aspect, expressing that the freestyle dance allows her to move however she wants. It s very different from following the set accounting standards at work, she says. I just concentrate on the music and the leading of my partner, but since there are no standard routines, I can completely be myself. Regardless of Chan s busy schedule, she finds ways to make time for dance. It also helps that some classes start later in the evening so I can still make it, she says. We currently have a Jazz Funk class on Fridays for new dancers and more advanced Jazz classes on the weekends so we can accommodate members of all levels. October

3 Work-life balance Dancing Lucia Fan at an Institute s Dance Interest Group Jazz class Revitalizing energy Lucia Fan s feet tend to get carried away with the beat. The Manager in Accounting and Administration at an automotive company and Institute member finally found the time and opportunity to court her interest in dance two years ago in Jazz and Latin classes with the Dance Interest Group. I took traditional Chinese dance classes in secondary school and wanted to do more but was always too busy with other activities, says Fan. I met Cynthia Chan at the Institute s booth at the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon and noticed she posted a lot of beautiful dance photos. When I asked her about them, she asked me to give the interest group a try. Fan dances for health and happiness. Whenever I dance, I feel more energetic both during class and at work, she says. As a CPA, I m a lot more careful about being accurate and quick at work but when I m dancing, I get to relax and just have fun. When Fan dances with the interest group s Jazz team, she feels a sense of satisfaction in their friendship and, sometimes, honesty. When we train for a performance, we work together towards a goal and we help each other find out what we are not doing well on, she says. That s why the dance practice process is my favourite part about dancing. As CPAs, we take our goal seriously and don t mind putting time and effort into perfecting a routine. Fan also participates in Latin dance competitions with her partner and fellow Institute member Gary Lam, a former convenor of the interest group. The monthly competitions are organized by the Hong Kong International Professional Dance Sports Council and participants are judged on their performance in Rumba, Samba, Paso Doble, Cha-Cha-Cha and Jive. At first, we had trouble catching the beat because we never know what song they ll play during the competition, says Fan. But after working harder to pay attention to the music, we were able to improve so we can really enjoy and dance with the music. For Fan, the biggest challenge is picking up tricky choreography. I wasn t able to remember the steps taught during the class before, she admits. But after a while, I started thinking about the patterns and logic in the dance steps, which allowed me to stop focusing on simply memorizing them. Accountants learn faster because we know how to focus, Fan adds. When we apply the logical thinking training we ve received into learning dance choreography, it can really make a difference. 40 October 2015

4 aplus You need to train up and should only begin dancing on pointe when your teacher thinks your legs are strong enough. Shirley Luo practises ballet On pointe Shirley Luo is no longer an outsider to the world of ballet. As disciplined as it is elegant, ballet has captured Luo s imagination since she was a little girl in awe of the beauty and grace of ballerinas. After five years of dance training in studios around Hong Kong, the Financial Analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Institute member now enjoys ballet for more than aesthetics she also appreciates the complexity of each move and the hard work that goes into it. Luo signed up for ballet classes to balance her daily routine between work and sports activities. I m not an athletic person so dance was a good option for me to build my strength and body shape, says Luo. My flexibility also improved over time, which wouldn t have been possible without dance. Over the past five years, Luo has not only learned how to shift all her body weight onto her toes or coordinate herself to move smoothly, she has also passed Level 6 in the United Kingdom s Royal Academy of Dance ballet examinations. I dance for myself, she says. It was difficult in the beginning, with no experience, but I could commit to the classes after work and I learned to never give up too early. It s important for beginners to take ballet slowly, Luo cautions, and not be allured by the seemingly effortless movements of professional dancers. Ballerinas look amazing, but don t rush into it because dancing on pointe can be both difficult and dangerous, she says. October

5 Work-life balance Dancing Jennifer Lai practises contemporary dance KK Yeung and Angela at their firm You need to train up and should only begin dancing on pointe when your teacher thinks your legs are strong enough. As a CPA, Luo finds that being detail-oriented is an advantage in the dance studio, especially when practising an art that is as precise as ballet. When the teacher says your leg should be at 45 degrees, anything other than that will look odd, she says. However, the importance of precision goes beyond form in ballet. Many movements and linking steps are actually designed to avoid injury so you need to give demonstrations your full attention, says Luo. Despite the amount of concentration Luo puts into dance practices, she leaves the studio each time with a refreshed mind and a relaxed mood. The classical practice music is enjoyable itself, but when I dance, there s no time to think of anything but the rhythm and controlling my body, she says. I can unwind and even if I get the steps wrong, there s no consequence. But if I get the numbers wrong as a CPA, I would have to start worrying about my career, she laughs. Inhabiting space When I can dance, I can breathe freely, says Jennifer Lai, Audit Assistant Manager at KPMG and Institute member. While Lai spends her days fixed in the posture of an office worker, outside of office hours she is stretching to the limits of her body at her favourite dance studio. My range of motion gets really big when I dance, she says, but when I work, I keep in this pose, she says as she assumes a healthy posture recommended for sitting at a computer for long periods of time. Lai is a contemporary dancer, focusing on the style that brings her the most relaxation. Although Lai began as a ballerina in secondary school and has passed the Advanced 1 exam level, she prefers the freedom offered by contemporary dance. When I did ballet, it was the exact count and position that mattered, she says. However my current contemporary teacher taught us that it s all about body movement and everything made more sense. In contemporary, my body weight determines the direction of my movement and I need to shift that weight around if I want to move in a certain way, Lai explains. At the University of Hong Kong, Lai joined the dancing club, also known as HKU Danso, and picked up Hip Hop, Locking, House, Jazz and other dance styles, practising daily with her teammates for Every [dance] has their own style and there s a lot we can learn from each other. 42 October 2015

6 aplus Through my children, I moved away from seeing the world in black and white. Kenneth Morrison holding a collage of his son Graeme's wedding photos inter-university performances. In my second year, I got involved in planning the annual performance so there was more administrative work, but I also got the opportunity to get to know the teachers better and find out more about what they wanted to express with each dance piece, says Lai. Although Lai and her classmates at her dance studio today are preoccupied with their various careers, they still find time to meet and practise for studio showcases, coming together to choreograph contemporary pieces. Our most recent piece is about a girl who is trying to get to the other side of the stage, but the rest of the dancers keep pulling her back. With every movement we do, we need to understand that our direction is heading one way, while she s the only one who s going the opposite way and somehow get the audience to understand this message, she says. Dance has taught Lai to be humble, a trait that has become an asset when working with teammates from different backgrounds when doing audit work. I m not a great Hip Hop dancer but I know that no one is really laughing at me. We know that everyone has their own style and there s a lot we can learn from each other, she says. Quite a few of my teammates are not accountants so they tend to solve problems in a different way from CPAs I can also learn a lot from them as well. October