Festivals
International Arts Carnival 2010
The International Arts Carnival, an annual summer event, offers performing arts programmes, and educational arts activities for children, youth and families, in the form of dance, multi-media theatre, puppet theatre, physical comedy, music and children’s films.
The 2010 Carnival opened with Peter Pan, an exciting blend of classical ballet, theatrical wizardry and wonderful flying feats by the Northern Ballet Theatre (UK). Other highlights by renowned arts groups from around the world included Gulliver by the Moscow State Puppets Theatre, Ping by Títeres de María Parrato (Spain) and Restaurant tú Three by iiextrés! (Spain), Check Out! by Polyglot Theatre (Australia), Brocante Sonore: The Mechanicians by Zic Zazou (France), and Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny by Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia (Canada).
Local artists added colour to the Carnival through the GenS@HK21C by Pop Culture Creations, featuring talented young singer-songwriters, Alice and the Little Golden Book by Hong Kong 3 Arts Musical Institute, The Fuzzy Family by Gay Singers and Project on Earth Creative Communication Company Limited, and The Lovable Scavenger by Make Friends With Puppet.
Apart from stage performances, the Carnival featured pre-carnival school tours, community outreach performances, school culture day programmes, exhibitions and workshops. The Carnival also provided a platform for the Conference on Children’s Theatre Arts in Asia, co-presented by the International Association of Theatre Critics (Hong Kong) and Hong Kong Theatre Works Limited.
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A total of 42 local and 10 visiting arts groups participated in 405 Carnival events, from July 9 to August 15, 2010, attracting an audience of 133 782. The average attendance at ticketed events was 92 per cent.
New Vision Arts Festival 2010
The fifth edition of the New Vision Arts Festival continued its avant garde programming, featuring innovative cross-cultural music, dance and theatre performances with an Asian focus. The Festival, from October 15 through November 21, 2010, showcased a number of world-premiered programmes, including the opening concert by famous diva Dadawa teaming up with ethnic and contemporary musicians, and a percussion extravaganza The Butterfly Effect: East-West Percussive Parade featuring Budgie (UK), Leonard Eto and Sugizo (Japan), Mabi (South Africa) and Knox Chandler (USA).
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Local artists and arts groups and their overseas counterparts staged commissioned productions such as Grand Expectations by Edward Lam Dance Theatre, with artists from the Mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and The Next Generations by Tang Shu Wing Theatre Studio collaborating with Drama Box (Singapore). There were also new explorations of the traditional arts, ranging from The Peony Pavilion, the extraordinary Sino-Japanese version of Kunqu opera by Japan’s Kabuki master Bando Tamasaburo and Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theatre of Jiangsu Province; Feather, the first contemporary Nanguan opera by Xinxin Nanguan Ensemble of Taiwan; The Golden Cangue, a modern Peking Opera by GuoGuang Opera Company of Taiwan; and a love story from Muqam retold with contemporary music by JAM, a post-80s band from Xinjiang and local artists. Other highlights included Asian premieres of the works of five celebrated composers on the Pearl River Delta by the world-acclaimed Ensemble Modern, and Mortal Engine, a dance-video-music-laser ensemble piece by Australian group Chunky Move.
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During the month-long Festival, 40 visiting and 28 local arts groups presented more than 138 events. They also included workshops, master classes, school tours, student shows, exhibitions, foyer and outdoor performances and talks in selected restaurants and tertiary institutions. The Festival attracted an audience of 83 585, with an average attendance of 85 per cent for ticketed events.
