Titanic-like sweep of Hong Kong Dance Awards and a sinking feeling about danceโs standing
You donโt often hear a Hong Kong dance production compared to a blockbuster filmโs success on Oscars night, but that was how the Hong Kong Dance Alliance described a near clean sweep of its annual awards by Hong Kong Balletโs The Butterfly Lovers.
โThis is astonishing โ it feels like Oscars night in the year of Titanic,โ said the awardsโ co-chairman, and Post dance critic, Natasha Rogai.
At the awards ceremony, held at the Fringe Club in Central district on May 19, The Butterfly Lovers won a record six awards: for best large venue production, best choreography, best set and costume design โ won by Tim Yip, who earned an Oscar in 2001 for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon โ best music for Tian Miโs score, best female performance for Xuan Cheng, and best ensemble performance.
Of the other honours presented on the night, the two that eluded The Butterfly Lovers were the award for best male performance, which went to Luo Fan for his role in CCDCโs As If Snowing, and the award for best lighting, won by Yeung Tsz-yan for Hong Kong Dance Companyโs The Legend of Lanling.
Recipients of prizes in the 26th Hong Kong Dance Awards and other members of the dance community at the awards presentation ceremony at the Hong Kong Fringe Club. Photo: Hong Kong Dance Alliance
The award for best medium (sic) venue production went to City Contemporary Dance Company (CCDC) for Living Up to Death, while the award for best small venue production was shared between Tai Kwunโs Memory Trace of Western Chamber and Common Groundโs Imagined Altar.
The Butterfly Lovers, which is based on a traditional Chinese folk tale of the same name, premiered at the Hong Kong Cultural Centreโs Grand Theatre on October 18, 2024. It will soon tour to the United States: Hong Kong Ballet will perform it at New Yorkโs David H. Koch Theatre between August 22 and 24.
