RECREATION, SPORTS AND THE ARTS
Kong director Yu Lik-wai's Love Will Tear Us Apart was awarded the Jury's Special Mention.
Provisional Regional Council Presentations
The Provisional Regional Council presented 703 programmes, covering a rich variety of local and overseas cultural programmes, in 1999. These attracted a total audience of 355 306. Visiting groups and artists included the Bolshoi Ballet from Russia, the Houston Ballet from the United States, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from the United Kingdom led by Daniele Gatti, the instrumental ensemble I Musici of Italy, pianists George Winston from the United States and Mikhail Pletnev from Russia, violinist Oleh Krysa from the United States, guitarist Hucky Eichelmann from Germany, the French mime artist Marcel Marceau and the International Theatre Company of London.
The Provisional Regional Council was dedicated to the promotion of Chinese culture and arts. In 1999, performing groups invited from the Mainland included the Zhanjiang Xiao Kong Que Cantonese Opera Troupe, Hakka Songs Music and Dance Troupe, Jiangzhou Drum Troupe of Shanxi, Shanghai Philharmonic Chorus, Foshan Cantonese Opera Troupe, Shanghai Comic Troupe, China Beijing Opera Theatre and the Peking Opera Troupe of Beijing.
The council continued its collaboration with the Hong Kong Arts Festival in presenting major festival programmes at its venues. Full support was also given to local professional companies in commissioning new productions. This included Cantonese opera featuring major artists in Hong Kong.
Audience Building Projects
In 1999, the Provisional Regional Council introduced several new arts development initiatives. Among them was the Cultural Ambassador Scheme aimed at making the arts more accessible to the community. Nine Cultural Ambassadors — groups or individuals were invited to conduct outreach activities in the performing and visual arts. They included the New Tune Chinese Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Y-Space, House of Cantonese Opera, Prospects Theatre, Lan & Kwai Workshop, visual artists Siu King-chung and Howard Chan, as well as Esther Liu and Cheung Kuen-kuen. A total of 247 outreach activities were held, attracting 129 084 participants.
Another arts development initiative was the Artist-in-residence Scheme for the council's three major town halls. These residencies aimed to nurture community interest in performing arts and assist local performing artists in communicating with their audiences. Artists taking part included James Mark and Society of the Little Arts Ambassadors of Hong Kong at Sha Tin Town Hall; Creative Horizon and Hong Kong Ling Nan Orchestra at Tuen Mun Town Hall; Wong Sze-hang with the Hong Kong Quartet and Hong Kong Beijing Opera Troupe at Tsuen Wan Town Hall. A total of 15 181 people participated in these activities.
Audience building efforts continued through the organisation of 'animateur' schemes. Two schemes on modern dance and drama for students were co-presented with the City Contemporary Dance Company and the Prospects Theatre Company. Arts education programmes on multimedia art and musical theatre were organised
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