The second edition of “Dance Festival 2022: A Void” presented by Eaton HK Hotel, featuring over 40 local and international artists creating over 20 live performances. The festival, curated by Anya Leung, will collaborate with Hong Kong Ballet, NOWNESS Asia, Unlock Dancing Plaza, and local independent artists to showcase dance, film, music, and literary cross-disciplinary live performances from September 21 to 25 for five days.
The second edition of the Dance Festival is different from typical stage performances, continuing the 2019 inaugural Dance Festival “24 Hours in Movement: Pegged Legs, Hooked Hands” with uninterrupted live performances in various environments throughout the hotel. Each program by artists and performers will also be integrated into every corner of the hotel, from the lobby to various restaurants, to the rooftop swimming pool, outdoor bar terrace, screening room, music room, banquet hall, and even the stairs.
In the same space, everyone is on stage, overturning the traditional perspective from the audience to the stage. The audience appreciates the performance from all directions, creating a fluid viewing relationship between artists, audience, and passersby as the atmosphere constantly changes.
“Dance Festival 2022: A Void” takes inspiration from the novel “A Void” published by French writer, innovator, and experimentalist Georges Perec in 1969. The novel adopts the writing restriction of “avoiding” the letter “e” completely, and this year’s festival theme will follow the concepts of “avoidance,” “disappearance,” and “absence” from this novel, exploring what has been lost or lacking in the past three years under the pandemic. The festival encourages everyone to fill the void in their hearts and surroundings with dance movements and environmental interactions, with an interesting and humorous attitude.
The opening dance party on September 21 invites the audience to join the local famous street dance group DD9M, listening to the live performance of Franklin Telescope and DJ Tiga’s funk jazz music, and partying all night with friends. The second night of the Dance Festival (September 22) will feature a variety of unique performances: Hong Kong’s only professional male Cantonese opera dan, Ju Zi Yun (Wang Houwei), will bring a dreamlike performance adapted from “The Peony Pavilion”, pole dancer Zhang Weiyi will adapt the ballet “The Rite of Spring”, combining Skitai’s shamanic rituals with aerial dance to create a powerful performance.
The program on the third night will challenge the traditional boundaries and standards of physical ability and form in the performing arts world, encouraging everyone to express themselves through movement with their own bodies. The Eaton Hotel will collaborate with NOWNESS Asia to premiere a dance video by the renowned German choreographer Raimund Hoghe (1949-2021), who suffered from severe scoliosis. Yang Xiaofang, a performance artist who lost both arms in a childhood accident, will lead an interactive performance with two other performers, subverting the power dynamics between performers and audience, as well as challenging stereotypes of people with disabilities.
On the weekend of September 24th to 25th, Dance Festival will showcase a full day of family-friendly activities. In addition, the Hong Kong Ballet will present five brand new dance pieces at the Terrible Baby cocktail bar, along with many other exciting performances. Interested friends can visit the official website for more information on the shows!
The 2nd “Dance Festival 2022: A Void”
Date: From now until September 25
Location: Eaton HK, 380 Nathan Road, Hong Kong
Programme Schedule: Click here
Image source and learn more: Eaton HK
