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| editor's diary |
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Sunday July 1
It is the big day – the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People’s Republic of China and events galore have been planned to celebrate. The 164-page 10th Anniversary Celebrations Events Calendar lists several pages worth of activities – including a morning Tai Chi Qi Gong performance and an evening Harbour Extravaganza with a mega-fireworks display following the more usual Symphony of Lights. And let’s not forget the Celebration Party for the Reunification by Ten Thousand Youths from Shenzhen and Hong Kong, three HKSAR 10th Anniversary Reunification Cup matches and more than one area carnival and Lion Dance display as well as a flag raising ceremony. For more information, visit www.gov.hk/en/theme/10/events/
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Monday July 2
Seven is the number not of performers or even countries from which the acts for the 10th Anniversary Pop Rock Gala come. Instead, it is the number of hours this musical extravaganza is scheduled to go for! Featuring local singers and groups (Grasshopper, V.O.X., Ivana Wong, Stephanie Cheng and Vincy Chan) along with the Mainland’s Tang Dynasty, Won Fu from Taiwan and w-inds from Japan, the event boasts high-pitched funny guy Eric Kot as the concert mc. The show starts at 3pm at the Tamar Site. Tickets are $240 and $120 from URBTIX, 2734 9009. |
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Tuesday July 3
Fire twirlers and other three-ring circus staples together with 200 bits of stage equipment and sundry devices (and more than 600 moving lights and a state-of-the-art hydraulic system) imported from the USA don’t sound like basic items to us but may be to pop superstar Christina Aguilera. In any case, they are all part of the complement for the diva’s Back to Basics concert tour which will stop by in Hong Kong at 8pm on July 3 at the AsiaWorld-Arena. Tickets are $1,280, $880, $680 and $380 from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288. |
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July 4-8
Is China the birthplace of acrobatics? Some say so and if that is indeed the case, it seems fitting the Chinese would come up with the acrobatic version of a ballet. Produced by the Shanghai City Dance Company and performed by the Guangdong Acrobatic Troupe of China, this version of Swan Lake that will flip rather than pirouette into town for a series of performances from July 4 to 8 has been described as frenetic and promises to be full of acrobatic feats that will leave you breathless. Evening performances start at 7:30pm while the matinee on July 8 commences at 3pm at the HK Cultural Centre’s Grand Theatre. Tickets $300 to $120 are from URBTIX, 2734 9009. Say “V” and what comes to mind? Victory? Vendetta? Volkswagen? If the Spring-Time Experimental Theatre people behind the staging of The Vagina Monologues have their way, it would be that part of the female reproductive organs that connects the cervix and the vulva. Back for a seven show re-run at the HK City Hall’s Concert Hall, this taboo-transgressing interactive drama that delves deep into the female psyche comes complete with a parental guidance notice and a warning about language some in the audience might find offensive. Evening show times are 8pm while the weekend matinees on July 7 and 8 will start at 4pm. Tickets are $250 to $120 from URBTIX, 2734 9009. |
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July 5-7
“Life is just a bowl of cherries. So live and laugh at it all.” Thus goes the 1931 song made famous by Ethel Merman. And it sounds like it’s the message behind an English cabaret conceptualized and performed by Bloomsbury Group International that will have a short run at the Fringe Club’s Fringe Studio. Just a Bowl of Cherries follows one woman’s views about life, love and a whole bunch of related matters. Showtime on July 5 and 6 is at 9pm while July 7 has an afternoon performance scheduled to start at 3pm and an evening show at 8pm. Tickets are $175 for non-members and $140 for members from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288. |
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July 7 and 8
Shall we dance? Or if you prefer to watch others dancing, check out the International DanceSport Extravaganza at Queen Elizabeth Stadium. The first day’s programme includes the DanceSport Championship (whose competitors range from age 3 to 80!), a DanceSport Carnival (complete with a games booth), a Youth DanceSport Gala (with participants from several schools) and an attempt to get into the Guinness Book of World Records for the ‘Most People Dancing the Cha Cha Cha’. On day two, some of the world’s top ballroom dancers will vie to emerge as champions at the inaugural IDSF International Open and DanceSport Extravaganza. Admission is free, albeit with a ticket, up until 7pm on July 7 when tickets will be priced at $30. Tickets for the July 8 event are $500 to $50 from URBTIX, 2734 9009. |
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July 7-August 12
Not just for children: The International Children’s Film Carnival, which is part of the International Arts Carnival, may have younger ’uns as its official target audience but we feel adults ought to give more than one movie in this programme a serious look. Our recommendations include the evergreen animated version of Charlotte’s Web (with voice actors Debbie Reynolds and Paul Lynde) and Danish multi-award winners We Shall Overcome (about a 13-year-old boy inspired by Martin Luther King and his dreams) and The Lost Treasure of the Knights Templar (in which 13-year-old Katrine sets out to solve the mystery of lost buried treasure). Screenings will be on July 7, 14, 21, 22, 28, 29 and August 4, 5 and 11 at the HK Film Archive’s Cinema; July 15, 21, 22, 28, 29 and August 4, 5 and 12 at the HK Space Museum’s Lecture Hall; and July 7, 8, 14, 15 and August 11 and 12 at the HK Science Museum’s Lecture Hall. Tickets are $40 from URBTIX, 2734 9009. For more detailed information, go to www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/
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July 13 and 14
Go for the gold – gold medallists, that is, in action at the two-day Gymnastics Extravaganza. A delegation of 24 gymnasts from Mainland China – including Olympic gold medallist Yang Wei, multiple World Championship gold medal winners Cheng Fei and Chen Yibing, Olympic medallist Zhang Nan and 2006 Asian Games gold medallist Xiao Qin – will take part, along with representatives of the Hong Kong team, in what promises to be some pretty spectacular artistic, rhythmic and acrobatic gymnastic demonstrations. The July 13 performance will commence at 8pm while the July 14 performance starts at 3pm. The venue for both events is the HK Coliseum and tickets are $100, $50 and $25 from URBTIX, 2734 9009. |
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July 13-15
Shaolin? No, Shaoxing! The 10th anniversary celebrations for the establishment of the HKSAR continue into mid July, and include four different performances by the acclaimed Shanghai Shaoxing Opera Group over a period of three days at the HK Cultural Centre’s Grand Theatre. On July 13, the Yue opera specialists will stage a new version of the Chinese literary classic, The Dream of the Red Mansion. On the afternoon of July 14, they will perform excerpts from five operas with titles as diverse as The Blood-stained Handprint and A Pure Spirit while the evening will see the staging of a new and original production of To Love and Love Not. On July 15, the opera group will present another new production, Zhao’s Orphan. Evening shows start at 7:30pm while the July 14 matinee starts at 2:30pm. Tickets are $320, $240, $180 and $100 from URBTIX, 2734 9009. |
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