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Shen Wei, the only Chinese contemporary dance choreographer who also enjoys major success in the US today will bring a dazzlingly beautiful performance featuring "The Rite of Spring" and "Near the Terrace".
The performance presented by Shen Wei Dance Arts (USA) will kick off the New Vision Arts Festival organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.
It will be staged on October 20 and 21 at 7.45pm at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Grand Theatre.
Don't miss Shen's Hong Kong debut in which he is set to test the physical and technical limits of his dancers. "Near the Terrace" and "The Rite of Spring" received critical acclaim from The New York Times stating that "Near the Terrace" was "dance that must be savored moment by moment. The effect on the viewer is cumulative, but the instant can often be more resonant than the whole", while "The Rite of Spring" won acclaim in that "The visual and emotional impact is overwhelming¡K".
In "The Rite of Spring", dancers interact with a 13-by-14-metre canvas painting, visually amplifying the majestic score of Stravinsky's Le Sacrˆm du Printemps.
"Near the Terrace" marries delicate Oriental physique with Western aesthetics. Appearing as translucent figures of white jade, the dancers draw the audience into the surreal and infinite void, and onwards to the inevitable realisation of the "unbearable lightness of being".
Well-known for fusing dance and visual arts, choreographer, dancer and painter, Shen Wei was commissioned by the American Dance Festival for seven consecutive years (2000-2006). He was also the winner of the Nijinsky Award for Emerging Choreographer 2004. Shen was born in Hunan, China. He studied Chinese opera from the age of nine. After receiving a scholarship from the Nikolais/Louis Dance Lab, Shen Wei moved to New York City in 1995. He founded Shen Wei Dance Arts in 2000. The company is established upon the fusion of art forms: dance, theatre, Chinese opera, painting, sculpture and a unique hybridism of Western and Eastern cultures, and it was featured at the Lincoln Centre Festival, New York, for 3 consecutive summers (2003-2005).
In conjunction with performances by Shen Wei Dance Arts, there will be an exhibition on his latest paintings between October 18 and November 1, at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Foyer.
Furthermore, Shen Wei will give a talk on his choreography and paintings (conducted in English and Putonghua) at AC1, Level 4, Administration Building, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, on October 21.
Tickets for the opening performance priced at $120, $180, $260 and $360 are available at URBTIX outlets. Half-price tickets are available for full-time students, senior citizens, people with disabilities and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients. Group booking discounts are up to 20% off.
The production contains nudity.
Programme brochures are available at URBTIX outlets or at the website, http://www.newvisionfestival.gov.hk
For programme enquiries, call 2370 1044. Telephone reservations can be made on 2734 9009 and credit card telephone bookings on 2111 5999. Internet bookings can be made at http://www.urbtix.hk
Ends/Saturday, September 30, 2006
Issued at HKT 14:39
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