ENG-2017 — Page 387

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Recreation, Sport, Culture and the Arts

Fringe Club

The Fringe Club is housed in what used to be a cold-storage warehouse built in 1890, now listed as a Grade 1 historical building and adapted for use as a contemporary arts space. It adopts an open access policy to nurture budding artists and promote mature artists by providing venue and publicity support, as well as opportunities for overseas tours. A diverse cultural programme runs throughout the year.

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In 2017, there were over 400 exhibitions and live music, drama or dance performances. A cultural heritage leadership programme entitled Learn Play Lead, funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, offered guided tours, talks, an exhibition and an immersive theatre production to promote conservation while the building facade was under renovation.

Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre

The Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre (JCCAC) is a multidisciplinary arts village and arts centre housed in a converted nine-storey decommissioned factory estate in Shek Kip Mei. It is a self- financing registered charity which provides space to nurture creative talent.

As an arts village, the venue rents studio facilities to more than 100 artists and art groups. As an arts centre, it hires out facilities, including the Central Courtyard, galleries and the Jockey Club Black Box Theatre, for arts and cultural activities.

The centre's large-scale public programmes include the annual JCCAC Festival in December, the quarterly Handicraft Fair and regular free events such as open-air film screenings. It hosted almost 300,000 visitors in 2017.

Major Performing Arts Groups

Chung Ying Theatre Company

During the year, Chung Ying Theatre Company initiated a cultural exchange scheme with its Guangdong and Macao counterparts by hosting playwriting competitions and staging the winning plays in Hong Kong, Guangdong and Macao. It also brought Tuesdays with Morrie to Guangzhou and Canada.

City Contemporary Dance Company

The City Contemporary Dance Company is a professional modern dance company that nurtures creative dance talent in the context of contemporary China. It hosts the Contemporary Dance Festival, which in 2017 linked up East Asian dance artists with international presenters. The dance company also led young local choreographers and dancers to restage their classic choreography in the Mainland of China, and toured Israel, South Korea and Japan.

Hong Kong Ballet

Hong Kong Ballet is one of Asia's premier classical ballet companies. In 2017, it staged the Asian premiere of Anna-Marie Holmes' Le Corsaire and the world premiere of company choreographers Yuh Egami and Ricky Hu's Carmen. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR, the ballet company toured Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Jinan.

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