ENG-1992 — Page 378

RECREATION, SPORTS AND THE ARTS

Romantic Suites series and the Outstanding Young Local Talent Concert. In addition, the Sinfonietta also presents student concerts and foyer performances.

Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts

Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts is a tertiary institution which was established to foster and provide for training, education and research in the performing and related technical arts. Emphasis is put on both Chinese and western traditions. The academy is divided into four schools - dance, drama, music and technical arts. The School of Dance has three streams - ballet, Chinese dance and modern dance - which now includes musical theatre dance. The School of Music offers courses in Chinese and western music. The School of Technical Arts provides training in theatre and television.

In the 1992-3 academic year, there were 583 students on full-time courses leading to the awards of Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees, professional diploma, advanced diploma, diploma, advanced certificate and certificate. In addition, 828 students were enrolled on junior courses in dance and music which were provided for talented young people of school age. Continuing education in dance for evening part-time students was also offered by the School of Dance.

During the course of the year the academy was accredited by the Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation as an institution capable of awarding degrees, and as a result of the validation by teams of international experts of the degree proposals submitted by the four schools, the Schools of Dance and Music admitted students to their Bachelor of Fine Arts courses in September, and the Schools of Drama and Technical Arts will begin their degree courses in September 1993.

This change of status to a degree-awarding institution is a milestone in the short history of the academy, and is a recognition of the importance of the performing arts to the cultural life of Hong Kong.

The School of Dance presented a number of performances during the year, notably the Graduation Dance Concert. There were also opportunities for the students to show their abilities as choreographers in the creative projects evenings. The School of Dance joined forces with the School of Music for An Evening with Cole Porter, and the major dance event of the autumn was Time Travellers a major new work with particular appeal to young audiences. The School of Dance participated with great success in the International Festival of Dance Academies in Taiwan during the summer.

The School of Drama mounted plays including Ibsen's An Enemy of the People, Simon's Bare Foot in the Park, Shakespeare's Macbeth (set in Tibet), and a new musical, Autumn City Story. A new version of Moliere's Don Juan, and a play based on a Chinese traditional theme Nuwa Mends the Sky, which was toured in France, were produced. A revised version of Nuwa, designed for a larger stage and Hong Kong audiences was produced in the drama theatre in October.

The School of Music gave their regular series of concerts during the year, notably the Exxon-sponsored Young Professional Musicians Platforms on Tuesday evenings which concentrated on Baroque and 20th century music; Monday lunch-time concerts; and Friday piano recitals. The Opera Department presented Kurt Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny in April, conducted by Gordon Kember, directed by Fredric Mao and designed by visiting German designer Jurgen Lancier. The opera performance at the end of the year was the academy's most ambitious project: Bizet's Carmen, conducted

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