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Presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, three performances by the Youth Dance Company of the Beijing Dance Academy will be staged in October, including the celebrated dance piece "Ink: Diffusion and Infusion".
The programme seeks to trace the history of dance in Chinese culture and its association with poetry, painting and music down the ages.
The application of graded ink washes resulting in five shades inspired the troupe's choreographic concept for this dance programme. How the ink infuses the rice paper and diffuses in shades of dark or light, wet or dry, intense or muted, is reflective of the dancer's body in motion: breathing in or out, moving or still, opened up or withdrawn, quick or slow, rising or falling. The body is the brush loaded with ink, and the dance a rhythmic permeation of graded colours on an abstract painting surface. Each diffusion is a reading of the spirit behind the physical idioms.
In the dance, the body becomes like the landscape, or Heaven and Earth. "Ink: Diffusion and Infusion" is an abstraction of Chinese classical landscape paintings, in which the ink hues contain history, culture and memories.
Apart from this dance theatre work, the dance troupe will also perform an evening of "best selections" covering solo dance, pas de deux and group dance. In this context "The Epic Beauty of Classical Chinese Dance" includes "The Rainbow Dress Dance" (female group dance), "Prince Qin Taking Roll Call on the Battlefield" (male group dance), "A Fond Farewell at the Pavilion" (pas de deux) and "The Yellow River" (involving the company).
Trained under the auspices of the Beijing Dance Academy - the highest tertiary institute of professional dance training in China - the Youth Dance Company is made up of alumni of the Beijing Dance Academy, all of whom are award winners in national dance contests. The troupe is known for its innovative programming, high-quality productions and technical virtuosity, and has been invited to appear at major functions in China, the US, France, Italy, Germany, Canada, Spain, Romania, Belarus, Japan, South Korea and North Korea.
Detail of the shows are as follows:
"The Epic Beauty of Classical Chinese Dance"
October 12 (Friday), 8pm
Auditorium, Tsuen Wan Town Hall
Tickets: $200, $150, $120
"Ink: Diffusion and Infusion"
October 13 (Saturday), 8pm
October 14 (Sunday), 3pm
Auditorium, Sha Tin Town Hall
Tickets: $220, $160, $120
Tickets are now available at all URBTIX outlets, on the Internet and by credit card telephone booking. Half-price tickets are available for senior citizens aged 60 or above, people with disabilities and their minders, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipients (limited tickets for CSSA recipients available on a first-come, first-served basis). A group booking discount scheme is also available. Please refer to the programme leaflet for details.
For programme enquiries, please call 2268 7323, or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/dance/00000402.html. For ticketing enquiries, please call 2734 9009. For telephone credit card bookings, please call 2111 5999. For Internet bookings, please visit www.urbtix.hk.
Ends/Friday, August 24, 2012
Issued at HKT 14:45
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