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| editor's diary |
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May 4 to 6
The mysteries of martial arts become stunning dance theatre as the Hong Kong Dance Company returns with their adaptation of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, legendary novelist Jin Yong’s tale of a young swordsman’s adventures among rival fighting sects. The production is choreographed by Leung Kwok-shing and Yang Yuntao and stars 2R’s Rosanna and Race Wong. Shows on May 4 and 5 start at 7:45pm and 3pm on May 6 at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Grand Theatre. Tickets are $120, $180 and $260 from URBTIX, 2734 9009. |
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May 4 to 6
Last calling: Burn the Floor, originally part of the entertainment at Sir Elton John’s 50th birthday bash, is coming to set Hong Kong audiences alight after months of touring in Japan. The show, a scintillating mix of dance moves led by award-winning dancer Jason Gilkison will blaze at the HK Convention and Exhibition Centre from May 4 to 6.
Shows kick off at 8pm and tickets from $290 to $990 are available from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288. |
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May 4 and 5
As part of the Le French May, Topology features four gifted local dancers performing works by masters in choreography including Cloudgate Dance Theatre’s choreographic protégé, Cheng Tsung-lung; CCDC’s resident artist Xing Liang; and William Forsythe, a leading figure in Australian jazz dance. The highlight of the collaboration will be the latest work by award-winning Thierry Malandain, director of the Centre Chorégraphique National – Ballet Biarritz. In his work Sextet, 12 classical ballet dancers will define space through the strength, fragility and sensuality of a dancer’s body. Shows on May 4 and 5 will start at 8pm at the HKAPA Lyrics Theatre. Tickets are $110 and $75 from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288. |
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To May 5
In Private Lives, Noel Coward’s classic comedy, a pair of honeymoon couples find themselves in adjacent suites of the same hotel. The trouble – and trouble it is – the groom of one couple is the ex-husband of the other couple’s bride. And, from behind their drawn swords, they still adore each other. Since its first performance in 1930, stars such as Alan Rickman, Emma Fielding, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton have played the warring couple. In Hong Kong, Stylus Production’s latest version is directed
by Adam West with Kath Ryan, Fleur Findlay and Kenn Joyce, great-nephew of Irish novelist James Joyce, in the performance. The show runs until May 5 at McAulay Studio Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre. Tickets cost $200 from URBTIX, 2734 9009. |
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May 8 to 13
Not many of us would have had the chance to visit Xian, but its most famous army is about to take over Hong Kong. Terracotta Warriors is an action-musical combining music, dance, martial arts, epic sets and extravagant costumes in a $3-million epic produced by former action movie star Lee Choi Fung. It tells the story of the infamous Qin Shihuang, the first emperor of China, who, wanting to secure his afterlife, ordered that he be buried with a life-size replica of his army after he died. When it was unearthed in 1974, the 8,099-piece terracotta army became known as the ‘Eighth Wonder of the Ancient World’. Directed by Dennis K Law, Terracotta Warriors has already toured Toronto, Denver, Chicago and LA. Shows from May 8 to 13 start at 7:30pm and 2:30pm on May 12 and 13 at Hong Kong Cultural Centre Grand Theatre. Tickets from $150 to $560 are available from URBTIX, 2734 9009. |
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May 9 to 13
It must be a record in the history of Hong Kong theatre – in its seven runs Man of la Tiger has entertained Hong Kong with over 100 performances. The production may also hold the less salubrious record for the number of times a performer swears on stage in a single show – close to countless, we reckon. Jim Chim’s record-breaking one-man show is on the boards yet once again but if you think it is the same old thing, you’d be wrong. How could the comedian miss the chance to cock a mocking finger at the recent election between Donald Tsang and Alan Leong? See him impersonate more than 30 characters from May 9 to 20 at 7:30pm and May 13 and 20 at 2:30pm at the HK Academy of Performing Arts Lyric Theatre. Tickets go from $180 to $360 from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288. |
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May 11 to 13
In art, being homeless isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Homeless Dance Company, a project inspired by the Little Asia Dance Exchange Network (LADEN – much easier to remember for obvious reasons), gathers five talented young dancers from five cities for the company’s debut performance this month. Local boy Daniel Yeung, Motoko Ikeda from Tokyo, Chan Yu-chun from Taipei, Seoul’s Kim Sung Yong and Natalie Cursio from Melbourne will dance solos as well as collaborations as they explore and exchange cultural identities and shatter stereotypes. Is it just a dance mash-up or an interactive show to inspire and move you? That’s your call on May 11 and 12 starting at 8pm and 3pm on May 12 and 13 at the Cultural Activities Hall, Ngau Chi Wan Civic Centre. Tickets cost $130 from URBTIX, 2734 9009. |
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May 14 and 15
Founded in 1976, the Lille National Orchestra has established a world-renowned name for itself with a vision to ‘take music wherever it may be received’. And in HK it will no doubt be well received as the orchestra joins the celebrations in Le French May. Conducted by Jean-Claude Casadesus, the LNO celebrates everything classic and French in two concerts, the first of which includes extracts from Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust and Bizet’s Carmen. In the second, Berlioz’s Carnival Romain and Les nuits d’Été are on the programme with La Valse and Bolero by Ravel. Soprano Marie-Ange Todorovitch joins the orchestra on both nights while Chinese violinist Li Chuanyun is the soloist on the second evening. The concerts on May 14 and 15 start at 8pm at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Tickets
from $200 to $800 are available from URBTIX, 2734 9009. |
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May 10 to 23
Le French May is not just a lucky dip of the performing arts – we get a package of cinematic fun as well. Broadway Cinematheque brings us The Fantasy World of Jacques Demy, a retrospective screening of 10 of Demy’s full-length films, including classics like The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort. To give fans a more comprehensive perspective on the career and personal life of the director, three documentaries directed by his wife, Agnès Varda, also a pioneer of the New Wave, will be shown. The films will screen at Broadway Cinematheque, Pacific IFC and AMC Festival Walk. For details, click bc.cinema.com.hk. |
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