XN000022-1982-06-06 — Page 7

SUNDAY, JUNE 6, 1982

6

RSS GROOMS UP AN ARTIST

***

A YOUNG MAN WHOSE CHILDHOOD AMBITION WAS TO BECOME A PROFESSIONAL DANCER HAS HAD HIS DREAM COME TRUE - THANKS TO THE RECREATION AND CULTURE DEPARTMENT.

THE DEPARTMENT, THROUGH ITS OPERATIONAL WING, THE RECREATION AND SPORT SERVICE (RSS), HELPED CATAPULT THE YOUTH TO SUCCESS AFTER SEVERAL YEARS OF TRAINING.

TODAY, AT 25, PLATO LAW IS ENJOYING HIS CAREER AS A DANCER, A FASHION MODEL AS WELL AS A TEACHER OF MODERN DANCE WITH THE RSS.

AFTER LEAVING SCHOOL AND A COUPLE OF YEARS AS AN APPRENTICE IN A FACTORY, PLATO LAW REALISED THAT THE CAREER HE WAS PURSUING WAS NOT TO HIS LIKING. HE WANTED TO DANCE.

HE JOINED A DANCING COURSE ORGANISED BY THE RSS IN 1978. FOLLOWING FOUR YEARS OF PRACTICE AND TRAINING, PLATO HAS NOW BECOME A CERTIFIED TEACHER IN MODERN DANCE.

UNDETERRED BY HARSH EXERCISES, PLATO JOINED AS MANY COURSES AS POSSIBLE. THESE INCLUDE MODERN DANCE, JAZZ, TAP DANCE AND BALLET,

HE GAVE UP HIS JOB IN AN ALUMINIUM FACTORY AND TOOK UP THREE TRAINING COURSES EACH DAY, LATER, HE SIGNED A TWO-YEAR CONTRACT WITH A LOCAL TELEVISION STATION,

DRIVEN BY A DESIRE TO SEEK WIDER KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE, HE RESIGNED FROM THE T.V. STATION AND WENT TO LONDON WHERE HE UNDERTOOK SEVERAL DANCING COURSES LASTING UP TO SIX MONTHS.

ALREADY AN ESTABLISHED PROFESSIONAL DANCER, PLATO DOES NOT FORGET HIS DAYS WITH THE RSS.

+ HAVE BEEN THE PART-TIME TRAINER OF ROCK JAZZ IN THE RSS FOR THE PAST FEW YEARS AND I HAVE NO INTENTION OF STOPPING. THIS IS NOT MEANT TO BE A TOKEN OF GRATITUDE, BUT IN FACT, A DEEP SENSE OF ATTACHMENT TO IT, HE SAID,

+ THE TRAINING COURSES IT OFFERS ARE VALUABLE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE DANCING SCENE OF HONG KONG, IT DOES NOT ONLY PROVIDE THE PERFORMERS BUT ALSO TRAINS UP THE NECESSARY AUDIENCE WHO KNOW HOW TO APPRECIATE DANCE, WHO CAN COMPREHEND THE FEELINGS OF THE DANCERS IN MOVEMENTS.

+THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT AS FAR AS PROMOTING DANCE IS

CONCERNED, + HE ADDED.

HEN ASKED WHETHER HE WAS SATISFIED WITH HIS PRESENT CAREER, PLATO CAID HE STILL HAD A LONG WAY TO GO AS HIS ULTIMATE GOAL WAS TO PECOME UNDERGRADUER.