RECREATION, SPORTS AND THE ARTS
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The company collaborated with overseas dance artists from Columbia, the United States and Australia in its productions of Solid Longing, Chronicle of a Floating City and Tales of a Middle Kingdom to promote cultural links with overseas dance communities.
The company also continued to hold evening dance classes and to tour primary and secondary schools to develop audiences. Other audience-building projects included the staging of the jazz ballet programme City Romance at various civic centres, and the organisation of Modern Dance Performance Workshops, sponsored by the Regional Council, to promote dance education and appreciation.
Hong Kong Ballet
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The year was an exciting one for the Hong Kong Ballet under the artistic direction of Bruce Steivel, who has focussed on the development of the company both at home and abroad. In 1993, the Hong Kong Ballet toured the east coast of the United States for the first time. The company also performed in Macau in October. These events provided useful feedback for the company as its performances were measured against the international standards of dance today.
At home, the Hong Kong Ballet premiered a new full-length ballet Cinderella for the Hong Kong Arts Festival in February, commissioned by the Regional Council, and also two one-act ballets The Strangers and Danses Concertantes. The Strangers employed local talents throughout, from choreography to music composition. The Regional Council also commissioned the company's staging of La Sylphide and Napoli Divertissements for its International Children's Arts Festival. The company experimented with the concept of a ballet season in September, staging Cinderella and a triple bill Contemporanza, jointly presented with the Urban Council. The company was also invited to give two public performances at Government House. Audiences enjoyed an exciting and entertaining year, which concluded with the staging of the world's most popular ballet The Nutcracker.
The outreach activities of the company's education unit, which included participatory courses, workshops and special theatre performances, continued to cater for the growing audiences of ballet throughout the territory.
The Exploration Theatre
Established in 1982, the Exploration Theatre was the first theatrical company supported by the Council for the Performing Arts under the seeding grant scheme in 1989. The artistic merit and the professional standard attained by the company in the intervening years won the recognition of the council when it elevated the company to general support grant status in 1993 for the first time.
The company continued to promote local original works. Its Easter production Ah Dum's Family, written by local playwright Cheung Tat-ming, was a successful satirical black comedy. What About Marrying Me?, written by Mok Hei, was a light comedy which depicted with subtlety and humour the theme of love today. Two shorter original works, written by new playwright Fung Kin-sun and Cheung Tat-ming, were also brought to audiences in the New Territories in the winter season.
In summer, the company successfully brought together dramatists James Mark, Mok Yan-lan and Hardy Tsoi, to act in its August production Driving Miss Daisy, directed by Chung King-fai.