Dancer Allen Lam and actor Tony Wong explore the complexities of friendship in their multi-genre performance Moments in the Palm of Your Hand. It’s a subject the duo knows something about: the two first met in 1995, during stage production The Paper Balloon.

"It was 14 years ago. I had just finished working for Hong Kong Ballet. It was the year I decided to leave Hong Kong,” says Lam, founder of DanceArt and Muse Motion. “I was about to graduate from APA,” says Wong, artistic director of 2 On Stage. "We had a separate rehearsal schedule,” says Lam, alluding to their fleeting connection.

Shortly after, Lam moved to New York to attend an MFA program at NYU. Despite living worlds apart, over the years their friendship has grown through visits to and from New York, Singapore and Sydney, where Wong has just returned from graduate school. Both artists now reside in Hong Kong.

Despite knowing each other such a long time, they had never collaborated before Moments in the Palm of Your Hand. “For this project, we wrote the script together, we brainstormed together. All the movement, we’ve tried to improvise,” says Wong. Lam finishes his thought, “Everything is coming from our bodies and our minds.”

Watching their rehearsal, the pair laughs a lot – even the most difficult moves seem to be a joy to execute. Their energy fills the room, commanding everyone’s attention. “Allen and I are trying to break through the image of a dance performance being too abstract. We think that all audiences will get the message and get the story,” says Wong. Lam continues, “There are barriers between dance and drama… we wanted to break these barriers, and have different audiences enjoy the show.” And that they should; friendship is a universal experience after all.

Doretta Lau

Moments in the Palm of Your Hand runs April 4-19 at Art Centre, McAulay Studio. Tickets available via URBTIX.