ArtisTree Brings a World of Dance to Hong Kong

As one of Hong Kong’s leading performance arts venues, ArtisTree has aimed to introduce rare productions and new art forms to local audiences, welcoming notable global dance companies to its stage in Quarry Bay through innovative programmes. Presented by Swire Properties, the ArtisTree Selects: Moving Pieces dance series, featuring over 20 performances by renowned dance companies from Norway, Wales, and France, as well as local dance groups, is well underway.

Entering its second month, Moving Pieces continues to engage audiences with visually compelling productions by global talents. After headlining ArtisTree’s opening season in 2017, National Dance Company Wales (NDCWales) returns with a double bill featuring two new works: Revellers’ Mass and Tundra. French dance and circus artist Yoann Bourgeois will then close the series with the highly anticipated Tentative Approaches to a Point of Suspension.

Asian premiere: Revellers’ Mass and Tundra by National Dance Company Wales (5, 6, 11 and 12 September)

Revellers’ Mass

• Revellers’ Mass exemplifies how NDCWales’ resident choreographer Caroline Finn takes inspiration from the stories, drama and mystery of Baroque and Renaissance paintings.
• This new dance production reinterprets classic artworks, such as Leonardo Da Vinci’s The Last Supper and Michelangelo’s Pietà, to explore themes of ritual and etiquette.
• Audience members may find the show’s setting familiar – such as the main scene with a communal table referencing The Last Supper – yet the piece is open to interpretation, as illustrated by mannequins on stage representing metaphors for etiquette, loss, suffering or death. 

Tundra

• Spanish choreographer Marcos Morau’s Tundra is a contemporary take on traditional Russian folk dance.
• Known for his bold choreographic style that’s influenced by art and cinema, Morau’s mesmerising routines feature eight dancers performing in a line – sometimes synchronised, sometimes in canon. 
• The dancers’ movements are augmented by stunning costumes, which are inspired by traditional patchwork of patterns, prints, fabrics and shapes from the different times and places of the tundra region.

Asian premiere: Tentative Approaches to a Point of Suspension by Yoann Bourgeois (19-20 and 26-28 September)

• French choreographer Yoann Bourgeois garnered major attention with his European performances of Tentative Approaches to a Point of Suspension. Since then, he, with his avant-garde performances, has become a viral sensation.
• Now, audiences will have a chance to experience his captivating performance live as he makes his Asian debut at Moving Pieces.
• Tentative Approaches to a Point of Suspension’s four pieces feature two artists interacting with various apparatus and machinery. Using props such as a staircase and a trampoline, Bourgeois attempts to make elementary physical forces such as gravity, centrifugal and balance forces discernible.
• Free performances of Culbuto and Dialogue will take place in the Taikoo Place lobbies for the enjoyment of both guests and passers-by; ticketed guests can continue to enjoy Hourvari and Fugue/Trampoline exclusively inside ArtisTree.

In addition to the performances, ArtisTree also invites audiences to discover the world of dance at a range of interactive workshops. For instance, during the Watch Dance Class hosted by NDCWales, audiences were able to observe, photograph, record or sketch the dancers pre-show. Workshops by NDCWales and Yoann Bourgeois encourage families and kids to tap into their creativity, while professional sessions give dancers a rare opportunity to meet and learn from world-renowned choreographers. 

ArtisTree Selects: Moving Pieces
Date: 8 August – 28 September 2019
Venue: ArtisTree, 1/F, Cambridge House, Taikoo Place, 979 King’s Road, Quarry Bay
Ticketing: Via Taikoo Social or Ticketflap
Details: https://www.taikooplace.com/en/artistree