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With the best of modern stagecraft and more than 120 dynamic performers including many National Class One artists, the historical gala of songs and dance "Splendours of the Tang Dynasty", launched the Silk Road Arts Festival tonight (October 9) at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.
Presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, the Silk Road Arts Festival is the third edition of the World's Cultures Series Festival.
The festival runs 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.
Officiating at the opening ceremony before the performance was the Under Secretary for Home Affairs, Ms Florence Hui Hiu-fai.
The opening programme "Splendours of the Tang Dynasty", a poetic blend of dance and music from the Shaanxi Provincial Song and Dance Theatre, depicts the vibrancy of life of the era, bringing the audience to revisit the magnificence of the prosperous Tang Dynasty.
Other programmes are:
- Georgian National Dance Company Sukhishvili
- Contemporary dance work "Re-(I, II, III)" by Shen Wei Dance Arts (USA)
- "Silk Road East & West" by Kitaro & Artists (Japan/USA/Hungary)
- "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 & Fargana Qasimovo (Azerbaijan), Tengir-Too (Kyrgyzstan) & Bardic Divas (Kazakhstan)
- "New & Old Myths of Tuva" by Huun-Huur-Tu: Throat Singers of Tuva, Sainkho Namtchylak (Tuva), Dickson Dee and Peter Scherr
- New work "Marco Polo's Travel to China" by En Chordais Ensemble (Greece) & Guest Artists
- "The Silk Road Journey" by Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra
- "Buddhist Music- Treasures from the Silk Road" by Ensemble of Gansu Gannan Labrang Monastery, Ensemble of Yunnan Xishuangbanna Main Buddhist Temple, Buddhist Music Ensemble of Shanxi Wutai Mountain
- "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" by Unlock Dancing Plaza and Ming Ri Institute for Arts Education
The festival also offers films, exhibitions, 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 now available at URBTIX outlets. 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 for full-price performing arts/film programmes of the festival.
Programme guides are available at URBTIX outlets and on the website www.silkroadfestival.gov.hk .
For programme enquiries, please call 2370 1044. Internet bookings can be made at www.urbtix.hk . Credit card telephone bookings can be made on 2111 5999 and telephone reservations on 2734 9009.
Ends/Friday, October 9, 2009
Issued at HKT 20:30
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