Dance

Convergence is the culmination of an interdisciplinary research study on Chinese dance and Chinese martial arts traditions. This is the first live performance of Convergence in Hong Kong after its inaugural performance, co-presented by Freespace and Hong Kong Dance Company, which was broadcast online in 2020, due to the pandemic. Convergence was awarded the Hong Kong Dance Award for Outstanding Online Production in 2022.

In the three-year study, the artists explored the essence of these traditional practices, discovering new perspectives on movement and the fluidity of expression between ideology and physical gestures. In this synergy of dance and martial arts, the dancers bring these discoveries together, capturing the transience between stillness and motion, tranquillity and exuberance.

This programme is co-presented by WestK and Hong Kong Dance Company.

Director and Choreographer:
Yang Yuntao

Co-presented by:

HerStory is a contemporary dance extension of Nüshu (“women’s script”), the written language developed and used exclusively by women in Jiangyong county, Hunan province, which has a four-hundred-year history.

Inspired by Nüshu and winner of two awards at the 2008 Hong Kong Dance Awards, HerStory is the final part of “Women’s Trilogy” created by renowned choreographer Helen Lai. She has updated the work by weaving in the writings of Xi Xi and Wong Bik-wan, two female authors from Hong Kong. The dance idiom is likened to writing in Chinese, from which emerge emotive personal stories of women and evoke collective memories.

This programme is co-presented by WestK and Hong Kong Dance Company.

Artistic Team:
Artistic Coordinator: Yang Yuntao
Choreographer: Helen Lai
Set Designer and Image Consultant: Charfi Hung
Lighting Designer: Yeung Tsz-yan
Sound Designer: Liang Tin-ning

Co-presented by:

Overview

A double bill of signature works by two Japanese contemporary dance artists

This November, the "HOTPOT East Asia Dance Platform" (HOTPOT) returns as part of the “City Contemporary Dance Festival” – celebrating regional artistic exchange with presentations by artists from East Asia regions. HOTPOT Japan showcases two performances by contemporary artists at Freespace: Da Dad Dada by Saori Hala and ZOU made from fume by Ikumi Kurosu.

Da Dad Dada is an autobiographical performance on the theme of absence. Conceived, designed and performed by Saori Hala, it delves into the artist’s connection with her absentee father, 1960s musical dance artist Ken Hara. ZOU made from fume is a dark and otherworldly piece choreographed, directed and performed by Ikumi Kurosu, founder of dance company BUSHMAN. The work explores the possibilities of the body in motion as it shifts between physicality and essence, and human and animal forms.

This programme is part of the “City Contemporary Dance Festival 2023” presented by City Contemporary Dance Company, with WestK as Festival Partner.

Artistic Team:
Da Dad Dada
Concept, Performance, Staged Objects, Music Composition and Video Design: Saori Hala
Voice-over: Ken Hara
Staged Objects: Mizuno Nakamura, Rion Onaya, Kouki Toi, Yuya Yoshizaki
Music Composition: Christophe Charles
Costume Design: Mika Tominaga
Stage Manager: Yoshiko Haraguchi
Lighting Design: Daichi Kutsumi
Sound Design: Norimasa Ushikawa
Video Technical Support: Takaki Sudo
Production Manager: Yuko Takeda

Video excerpt taken from the Japanese movie Asphalt Girl ©KADOKAWA (1964)

ZOU made from fume
Choreography, Direction and Performance: Ikumi Kurosu
Performance: Rikito Eguchi, Shou Itou, Shun Nakamura, Bausch Tezuka
Production Manager: Koujirou Yamamoto
Stage Manager: Yoshiko Haraguchi
Lighting Design: Daichi Kutsumi
Sound Design: Norimasa Ushikawa
Video Technical Support: Takaki Sudo
Sponsor and Cooperation Unit: AtZOO LLC

Presented by:

City Contemporary Dance Company is financially supported by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

“HOTPOT East Asia Dance Platform” Partners:

Festival Partner:

Overview

“City Contemporary Dance Festival 2023” opens with the premiere of acclaimed choreographer Sang Jijia’s latest work – a reflective exploration of nature and human emotion

Sang Jijia’s new work is a meditation on the nature of time, existence and human emotion. As dust rises and falls in the light – churning and billowing, floating and settling – the performers assemble and scatter, weaving a dance of cosmic cause and condition.

The premiere performance of Stream of Dust is performed by over 40 dancers, including CCDC Dance Artists and graduating students of the School of Dance at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA). The work follows Sang’s acclaimed Meeting In-between Time. Sang Jijia is the multi-award-winning Resident Choreographer of CCDC.

Co-presented by WestK and City Contemporary Dance Company, Stream of Dust is the opening programme of “City Contemporary Dance Festival 2023”.

Artistic Team:
Choreography: Sang Jijia
Original Music: Dickson Dee
Dramaturgy: Janice Poon*
Scenography: Leo Cheung
Rehearsal Mistresses: Li Yong-jing*, Shirley Lok
Lighting Design: Lawmanray
Sound Design: Leung Po-wing*
Costume Design: Charfi Hung
Performance: CCDC Dance Artists#, Graduating students (2023-24 cohort) of the School of Dance, HKAPA

* With support and kind permission of The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts

# CCDC Dance Artists:
An Tzu-huan, Suyi Hon, Felix Ke, Natalie Ko, Eric Kwong, Genie Lok, Nini Wang, Brian Yam, Skye Yao, Simpson Yau, Tally Zhuang

^ Graduating students of the School of Dance, HKAPA:
Ki Ki Cai, Leanne Chan, Jade Chan, Vanessa Chan, Co Co Cheng, Kathy Cheung, Nicole Cheung, Ching Chu, Vicky Chu, Kitty Chui, Jon Henri Sagolili Ferrer, Christabella Georgiana, Kryspina Ho, Issie Ho, Angel Lai, Yandy Lai, Lau Yin, Michelle Law, Li Ka-lun, Stephanie Li, Cherry Lok, Serena Ng, Miki Sham, Anson Shi, Siu Yau, Alliah Xandra Reyes Torte, Chloe Wan, Wang Ting-en, Darell Yang, Yen Shao-hui, Ferrida Yip, Angel Yip, Sarah Zeng

Co-presented by:

City Contemporary Dance Company is financially supported by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

In collaboration with: