Press Release
16 Jul 2021 [4 pages in total]
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Dance Theatre x Minimal Canto-Opera
WAITING HEART
Winners of Two Hong Kong Dance Awards
Till death do us part: a conquest of love, fate and free will
Hong Kong Dance Company and Utopia Cantonese Opera Workshop’s joint presentation of Waiting Heart premiered in 2018 to great acclaim and won two Hong Kong Dance Awards in 2019 ̶ Outstanding Medium Venue Production and Outstanding Lighting Design. From 24 to 26 September 2021 at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Studio Theatre, this artistic adventure across boundaries returns to the stage, celebrating an inheritance of traditions and the wonders of contemporary imagination.
An Interdisciplinary Creative venture of Dance and Cantonese Opera
From a Tang dynasty romance and a Ming dynasty opera to the masterful Cantonese opera adaptation by Tong Tik-sang, The Legend of the Purple Hairpin and the unrelenting love of its protagonists Li Yi and Huo Xiaoyu have seen countless reiterations. In this modern-day take contemplating multiple universes, the different versions of Huo Xiaoyu are locked in a myth of destiny and self-determination. Will she accept a fate cut short? Continue to search for happiness? Or fight for what she believes in?
Inventive Stage Design
Waiting Hearts adapts an unconventional use of the theatre space. The multi-dimensional audience seating encompasses various perspectives. The audience may either watch from the balcony or observe the characters’ delicate movement intimately in the stalls. The unconventional stage design allows the audience to either immerse themselves in the performance as an insider, or alienate themselves from the stage as a spectator.
The Hong Kong Dance Award for Outstanding Medium Venue Production
Award citation:
“The production brings together Chinese dance and Cantonese opera in this compelling re-imagining of The Legend of the Purple Hairpin, which makes inventive use of the venue to give the audience fresh perspectives and draw them into the action. Stunning designs, Yang Yuntao’s superb choreography and heartfelt performances bring out the intense emotion of this classic tale of love and devotion.”
Excerpt (approximately 200 words) |
Hong Kong Dance Company and Utopia Cantonese Opera Workshop’s joint presentation of Waiting Heart premiered in 2018 to great acclaim and won two Hong Kong Dance Awards in 2019: Outstanding Medium Venue Production and Outstanding Lighting Design. In September 2021, this artistic adventure across boundaries returns to the stage. Waiting Heart adapts the masterful work of Tong Tik-sang, interwinds Cantonese Opera and dance performance to narrate the unrelenting love of its protagonists Li Yi and Huo Xiaoyu. The unconventional stage design allows the audience to take the liberty to select their viewing perspectives ̶ either immerse themselves in the story in the stalls or spectate from the balcony.
Waiting Heart 2021.9.24-26 (Fri-Sun) 7:45pm Tickets available at URBTIX |Programme Enquiry 3103 1806|www.hkdance.com |
Performance Information |
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Venue |
Studio Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre |
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Date/Time |
24 – 26.9.2021 (Fri – Sun) 7:45 pm 25 – 26.9.2021 (Sat – Sun) 3:00 pm |
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Price |
$280, $200 |
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Duration |
Approx 1 hour 40 minutes without intermission |
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Ticketing |
Tickets available now at URBTIX: www.urbtix.hk Telephone Credit Card: 2111 5999 Ticketing Enquiries: 3761 6661 |
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Age Range |
Suitable for ages 6 and above |
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Programme Enquiries |
3103 1807 www.hkdance.com |
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Discount (Limited quota) |
50% off |
Full-time students, persons with disabilities and their minders |
20% off |
Prestige Member of HKDC |
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10% off |
Classic Member of HKDC |
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There are other discounts, details are available at URBTIX |
Production Team
Director/Choreographer |
Yang Yuntao |
Associate Director/Script |
Rex Ng |
Concept/Video Designer |
Maurice Lai |
Music Director/Composer |
Lee Che-yi |
Sound Designer |
Anthony Yeung |
Set Designer |
Jan Wong |
Costume Designer |
Mandy Tam |
Lighting Designer |
Billy Chan |
Image Designer/Performer |
Sunny Chan |
Hong Kong Dance Company
“Dancing across East and West, Moving to the Tempo of Hong Kong”
Mission Statement
We are nurtured in the cultural tradition of China, combining the creativity of contemporary art, to impress the world with Chinese dance of Hong Kong character.
History
Established in 1981, the Hong Kong Dance Company (HKDC) was incorporated in 2001 as a charitable and non-profit-making institution, and is financially supported by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. As one of the nine flagship performing arts companies in Hong Kong, our mission is to promote Chinese dance with contemporary artistic visions and Hong Kong character. Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, HKDC has staged over 200 productions over the decades, many of which were highly popular with critical acclaim. Recent productions include The Legend of Mulan, Red Poppies, Spring Ritual·Eulogy, The Butterfly Lovers, Storm Clouds, L’Amour Immortel, Dream of the Past: Ancient Chinese Court Dances, Reveries of the Red Chamber, Chinese Hero: A Lone Exile, Vipassana, Lady White of West Lake, Tale of Three Cities, Waiting Heart, Liu Sanjie, Ode to the Silk Road, Dance of Strings, A Tale of the Southern Sky, Mazu the Sea Goddess, The Moon Opera, Shan Shui: An Ode To Nature, as well as Convergence, a culminating work created through a three-year interdisciplinary research study on Chinese dance and Chinese martial arts traditions.
As a cultural ambassador of Hong Kong, HKDC constantly brings the city’s unique artistic style to the world by touring to different cities across the globe, engaging local audiences and encouraging cultural exchange. In recent years, we have brought our award-winning productions to the Lincoln Center in New York, Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Sony Centre in Toronto, the Concourse Theatre in Chatswood, Sydney, the Southbank Centre in London and The Belarusian State Academic Musical Theatre in Minsk, among others.
Utopia Cantonese Opera Workshop
Utopia Cantonese Opera Workshop (UCOW) was established in 1999 and later registered as a charitable organization. An art form needs young successors to build a road: at one end of this road is Bo Le, the legendary Chinese connoisseur of fine horses and at the other the legendary winged steed. In the middle is Utopia, just a humble street cleaner on the road. Utopia wishes to build a platform, holding both tradition and modernity. Our three objectives are Stage Production, Education and Promotion, and Preservation and Research. It is our aim to present this local art form to the world.
We value greatly the contribution of the late librettist Tong Tik-sang (1917 - 1959). In 2011 we realized that the best kind of tribute we could pay to him would be to continue with his mission of creative work. Thus, we wrote our first Cantonese opera,
ArenA (performed in 2011 at Kwai Tsing Theatre, and in 2015 at Shatin City Hall; our “black-box version” was presented in Seoul in 2017). Our theatrical concert His Butterflies (2014 - a performance celebrating the opening of the New Wing of Ko Shan Theatre; 2016 - a version commissioned by West Kowloon Cultural District), is unusual in that nearly fifty extracts were taken from Tong’s works, with montage working to trigger different readings and visions on the part of the audience.
For 19 years we have been engaged in cross-overs with other artists, amalgamating tradition and modernity, to present a 21st century rendition of Cantonese opera and operatic singing.
Media Enquiries
Ruby Kwan – Marketing & Programme Manager |
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Tel: (852) 3103 1858 |
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Email: [email protected] |
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Leung Wai Ting – Marketing & Programme Assistant Manager |
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Tel: (852) 3103 1815 |
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Email: [email protected] |
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Rain Liao – Marketing & Programme Officer |
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Tel: (852) 3103 1809 |
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Email: [email protected] |
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