ENG-1996 — Page 447

RECREATION, SPORTS AND THE ARTS

Workshops, lecture-demonstrations and free outdoor performances augmented the main performances. The 11th Annual Exhibition of the Asian Watercolour Confederation was also organised during the festival period.

International Arts Carnival

The annual International Arts Carnival entered its 15th year in 1996. It took place in July-August and featured 39 performances of dance, theatre, magic, circus, puppetry, concerts, and children's drama. The shows were staged by four overseas and six local groups.

Other special features of the festival included a poster design competition and exhibition as well as workshops on drama, dance, circus, mime and cartoon.

Community Arts Programmes

Programme planning for the four Community Arts Centres in 1995/96 has come under a central office named Community Arts Co-ordinating Office since January 1996. Major new projects co-ordinated by the office include the 'Artist-in-Residence' Scheme, which allows arts groups to use one of the Urban Council's Community Arts Centres as a home base for a designated period to develop and promote their creative works and educational programmes to the district communities. Arts education activities have also been enhanced at the Community Arts Centres.

Entertainment Programmes

During the year, the council staged 210 entertainment programmes in parks, playgrounds, community halls and the council's community arts centres in the urban areas. Most of these programmes were free and attracted 62 190 people.

Annual territory-wide events organised by the council included the Spring Lantern Festival, Summer Fun Festival, Mid-Autumn Lantern Carnival, Christmas Carnival and New Year's Eve Family Fun Carnival. About 283 960 people attended these festival events. The council also helped co-ordinate the Lunar New Year Fireworks Display, an annual spectacular event held in the Hong Kong Harbour.

Regional Council Presentations

Cultural Presentations

The Regional Council continued to present a wide variety of local and overseas cultural programmes in 1996. International presentations included violinist Robert McDuffie from the USA, great piano masters Fou Ts'ong from Britain and Pascal Roge from France, Le Quatuor a la Devil from France, the Russian National Orchestra under the baton of maestro Mikhail Pletnev, the distinguished young conductor Kent Nagano with the Halle Orchestra from Britain, the Stuttgart Ballet from Germany and the Moscow City Ballet from Russia. Chinese programmes also formed the core element in the overall programme mix. These included presentations by the Guangzhou Cantonese Opera Troupe, Shenyang Beijing Opera Troupe, Guzheng Recital by He Baoquan and Sun Wenyan and Erhu Recital by An Ruli from the mainland.

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 such as the Hong Kong Ballet, the High Noon

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