ENG-2000 — Page 451

RECREATION, SPORT AND THE ARTS

acclaimed artists from all over the world, leading local artists and young aspiring artists. The centre also organises a variety of exhibitions, film screenings, workshops and art education courses.

Programme highlights of the year included: the exhibition Improving Hong Kong; China: Fifty Years Inside the People's Republic; 100 Years Hong Kong Fashion; Very Fun Park Contemporary Art from Taiwan; the film programmes

The Age of Independents: New Asian Film & Video; Re-genesis from Memories; the performing arts programmes 1941 Girl; Wave 2000; Motion Concert Series; Little Asia; The Insect Series: To Kill or To Be Killed; and special projects Asia-Euro Dance Network Forum and Hong Kong Dance Showcase; Art in Hospital; and Hong Kong Theatre & Education Conference 2000.

Performing Arts Groups

Chung Ying Theatre

Stepping into the new millennium, the Chung Ying Theatre Company opened up new possibilities in dramatic arts, as well as continuing the development of theatre-in- education. The year began with touring of the well-received Aladdin to Macau and the revival of the Chung Ying classic, Twelfth Night. Apart from different workshops that catered for children in the summer holidays, an A. R. Gurney play, Sylvia, was staged. The collaboration on A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta was the opening programme of A Tribute to the New Millennium. Other projects included Play-Ground for new play development, Borrett Road Laboratory as a new performance experiment, school tours, the artist-in-residency with the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong and cultural ambassador programmes.

City Contemporary Dance Company

The City Contemporary Dance Company is a professional dance company that endeavours to rally the best Chinese talents to create dance in the contemporary context of China. In 2000, the company produced four innovative dance programmes and represented Hong Kong in tours to a number of destinations including Beijing, Houston in the United States, London, Lyon in France and Singapore. Apart from running its own modern dance school and reaching out to the local community, the company has launched its China Dance Development Programme in the Mainland.

The City Festival

The CityFestival is an urban culture festival that focuses on the multiplicities of a modern city. The second CityFestival, presented by the Fringe Club, was held in January. It attracted over 350 000 people in a four-week programme that featured performances, exhibitions, heritage drama re-enactment, talks, panel discussions, workshops, and an outdoor arts fair. More than 150 groups and individual artists from Hong Kong and overseas took part.

The Fringe Club is located in an historical building in Central. It has two theatres, two art galleries, a rehearsal studio, a pottery studio and showroom, a restaurant and some offices. Free use of these facilities is provided to artists on an open-access format throughout the year. It also engages in the production of a diverse range of arts programmes in and outside Hong Kong,

387