RECREATION, SPORTS AND THE ARTS
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The company continued to run its evening dance school, the City Contemporary Theatre and Gallery, and opened a new City Contemporary Club to further encourage innovative arts in Hong Kong. Company members also continued to visit as many as 100 local primary and secondary schools to promote dance education and appreciation among young people.
Hong Kong Ballet
Nineteen ninety two was exciting year for Hong Kong Ballet under the new artistic direction of Bruce Steivel who has focussed on the development of the company at home and abroad. This year the Hong Kong Ballet was invited to open the Singapore Arts Festival, to participate in the Festival Hong Kong '92 in Canada and to visit Shanghai for the company's third tour there. International touring is a gainful experience for the company as it gives critics of other nations the opportunity to measure its performances against the international standards of dance today.
At home Hong Kong Ballet premiered two new full-length ballets Coppelia for the Regional Council's International Children's Arts Festival in August, and A Midsummer Night's Dream in September, accompanied by the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and commissioned by the Urban Council. Another high point earlier in the year was a triple bill programme which included Jean-Paul Comelin's Les Nuits d'Ete and Balanchine's Who Cares?. Audiences enjoyed an interesting and entertaining year, which was concluded with the world's most popular ballet The Nutcracker.
-Through the outreach activities of the ballet's education unit the number of participatory courses, workshops and special theatre performances continued to cater to the growing audiences for ballet throughout the territory.
The Exploration Theatre
The Exploration Theatre was established in 1982. It is the first theatrical company supported by the Council for the Performing Arts under the seeding grant scheme.
The year 1992 marked the 10th anniversary of the Exploration Theatre. To commem- orate the occasion, the play, Moonlight Opera was staged in July. The play brought about the unprecedented co-operation of top dramatists with renowned playwright Raymond To, director Ng Ka Hai, and a cast of experienced actors.
The Exploration Theatre has an active educational programme and took its original productions - Dear Papa and Mama and It's a Long Road to Freedom - to 60 colleges and secondary schools.
Hong Kong Sinfonietta
Hong Kong Sinfonietta which comprises young local musicians, was established in 1990. The Sinfonietta has been supported by the Council for the Performing Arts under the seeding grant scheme since 1991. Apart from providing performance opportunities for local musicians, it also offers orchestral support to local performing groups. Its repertoire includes traditional orchestral pieces and works of local composers.
The Sinfonietta has accompanied many local performing groups, such as the Hong Kong Oratorio Society, the Hong Kong Children's Choir and the Hong Kong Baptist College Choir. Its concerts in 1992 included the Romantic Highlights series, the Enchanting