********************************************************
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department will this autumn, present the "Silk Road Arts Festival", taking Hong Kong audiences to visit the mysterious Silk Road and discover its cultural diversity through wide-ranging and exhilarating programmes.
The festival will run from October 9 to November 8, showcasing the rich cultural diversity along the Silk Road, starting from Xian in China traveling across the Taklamakan Desert to Central Asia, the Middle East and on to the Italian capital of Rome.
Beginning the festival is "Splendours of the Tang Dynasty", a historical gala of songs and dance by Shaanxi Provincial Song and Dance Theatre. Employing colourful costumes, traditional Chinese musical instruments, dances and stunts, 120 dynamic performers including many National Class One artists, use the best of modern stagecraft to revisit the magnificence of the Tang Dynasty.
Grammy and Golden Globe award-winner Kitaro, a synonym with the Silk Road and New Age music, together with five leading musicians, will present a programme of Silk Road-themed classics and new works.
Georgian National Dance Company Sukhishvili presents superbly refined folk dance with modernistic look, while Shen Wei Dance Arts (USA) centres on his impressions of visits to Tibet, Angkor Wat and the Silk Road to present a newly created contemporary dance work "Re-(I, II, III)".
Closing the festival is "Buddhist Music- Treasures from the Silk Road", a groundbreaking production featuring Tibetan, Pali and Han styles in one event. They are presented by Ensemble of Gansu Gannan Labrang Monastery, Ensemble of Yunnan Xishuangbanna Main Buddhist Temple and Buddhist Music Ensemble of Shanxi Wutai Mountain.
Other programmes are:
- "Ghazal--Persian and Indian Improvisations" by Ghazal Ensemble (Iran/India)
- "Iranian Rhythms" by Zarbang (Afghanistan/Iran)
- "Spiritual Sounds of Central Asia: Nomads, Mystics and Troubadours" by Alim Qasimov (IMC/UNESCO Music Prize winner) & Fargana Qasimova (Azerbaijan), Tengir-Too (Kyrgyzstan) & Bardic Divas (Kazakhstan)
- "New & Old Myths of Tuva" by Sainkho Namtchylak (Tuva),
Huun-Huur-Tu: Throat Singers of Tuva, Dickson Dee and Peter Scherr
- "Marco Polo's Travel to China" by En Chordais Ensemble (Greece) & Guest Artists
- "The Silk Road Journey" by Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra
- "Bun in the Cave" by Hong Kong Repertory Theatre
- "Heading West 2: The Curious Case of Sanzang" by Theatre Fanatico
- "A Deer of Nine Colours", a shadow light dance theatre tailor-made for family audience by Unlock Dancing Plaza and Ming Ri Institute for Arts Education
The "Peace and Harmony - The Divine Spectra of Manjusri Exhibition" features Manjusri and related artefacts, including precious gold thangkas, jade and porcelain carvings, as well as gold and bronze castings, while the "Reborn: The Silk Road Arts Exhibition" displays installations by leading local and Macau visual and performing artists on a Silk Road theme.
The festival also offers films, photo exhibition, master class, workshops, lecture demonstrations, talks, foyer and outdoor performances.
Tickets for the Silk Road Arts Festival, priced from $100 to $420 for stage performances, are available at URBTIX outlets from tomorrow (August 14). Half-price tickets are available for full-time students, senior citizens aged 60 and above, people with disabilities and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients. Group booking discounts of up to 20% are available.
Programme brochures are now available at URBTIX outlets or on the website www.silkroadfestival.gov.hk .
For programme enquiries, call 2370 1044. Telephone reservations can be made on 2734 9009 (from August 15) and credit card telephone bookings on 2111 5999. Internet bookings can be made at www.urbtix.hk .
Ends/Thursday, August 13, 2009
Issued at HKT 17:20
NNNN
