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One of the most promising choreographers in Hong Kong, Chen Kai, will stage his latest work, titled "Circle II", in March.
In 2010, Chen collaborated with choreographer Jin Xing in a dance performance, "Circle", at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing. The concept of spinning and turning movements continued to evolve within Chen's creative psyche until the creation of "Circle II" three years later. The new dance production draws on his new ideas as well as years of dance research.
Chen joined the Jin Xing Dance Theatre of Shanghai in 2001. In 2005, he was awarded a full scholarship to study modern dance at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, where he completed his Advanced Diploma in Dance and Master Degree of Fine Arts in Dance, the latter of which placed him among the first batch of postgraduates to be awarded that degree. In 2008, he was awarded the Désirée and Hans Michael Jebsen Fellowship by the Asian Cultural Council to receive further training in modern dance in New York. While in the US, he benefitted from his experience with some of the most prestigious companies in the dance world, including the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, the Paul Taylor Dance Company, the Isadora Duncan Dance Company and the José Limón Dance Company.
A founder of the Classifiable Movement Company, Chen has built up dance knowledge in different genres of contemporary dance, and his logic of movement's function and meaning has begun to emerge on stages worldwide. His belief in letting movement speak for itself is applied through his innovative choreography method Classifiable Movement. The Classifiable Movement choreography method covers five characters: Linear Movement, Rolling Movement, Turning Movement, Twist Movement and Flex Movement. In the past five years, a total of eight creations were presented, including "Line", "Line and Aureola", "Line II", "Sweep", "Twist", "Flex" and "Circle", and the works have been well received.
"Circle II" is one of the programmes in the New Force in Motion series presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. It will be staged at 8pm on March 21 and 22 (Friday and Saturday) and 3pm on March 22 and 23 (Saturday and Sunday) at the Multi-Media Theatre of the HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity. Tickets priced at $160 (free seating) are now available at URBTIX outlets, on the Internet and by credit card telephone booking. Half-price tickets are available for senior citizens aged 60 or above, people with disabilities and their minders, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipients (limited tickets for CSSA recipients available on a first-come, first-served basis). A maximum discount of 20 per cent is offered for the New Force in Motion series and group booking packages. Please refer to the programme leaflet for discount details. A meet-the-artists session will be held after the first performance.
The New Force in Motion series also includes "Made in Hong Kong" by Hugo Cho (May 30 to June 1).
For programme enquiries, please call 2268 7323 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/dance/program_465.html. Ticketing enquiries can be made on 2734 9009 and credit card telephone bookings on 2111 5999. Tickets can also be booked online at www.urbtix.hk.
Ends/Friday, February 7, 2014
Issued at HKT 12:41
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