12 cultural events in January not to be missed: ‘Swan Lake’ ballet, Consciousness Festival, Lang Lang’s Disney concert, and more

When: January 5 to 7

Where: Grand Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre

What: Beijing-based China Oriental Performing Arts Group is staging a Chinese dance drama inspired by A Panorama of Mountains and Rivers, a famous landscape painting dating back to a thousand year. Created by 18-year-old court artist Xi Meng in the Song dynasty, the painting was characterised by its blue and green colours.

This dance production takes the perspective of a modern-day Beijing Palace Museum researcher, who travels back in time to when Xi premieres his work. As he “unrolls” the painting, he reveals the characters and landscapes, which are represented by the dancers and the patterns and movements they form onstage. The production blends contemporary dance with traditional Chinese dance movements.

When: From January 10 to 14

Where: Hong Kong Cultural Centre

What: The National Ballet of China will stage Russian composer Pyotr Ilyic Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet Swan Lake and the group’s signature The Red Detachment of Women in Hong Kong this month. The latter, choreographed by Chinese ballet dancer Li Chengxiang, was adapted from a 1961 film of the same name, which depicts the liberation of a peasant girl set in the early years of the Communist revolution. The story is based on true events of an all-female company under the Chinese Red Army formed in May 1931. The production premiered in 1964, and was performed for the then-US president Richard Nixon and his advisor Henry Kissinger during their historic visit to Beijing in 1972.

Read more: Meet the seamstress behind Hong Kong Ballet’s mesmerising costumes

When: January 26 to 27

Where: Studio Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre

What: Written and performed by English actor Mark Farrelly, whose stage credits include West End performances, Jarman is a solo play that depicts the life of the late British avant-garde filmmaker Derek Jarman (1942-1994). Jarman’s works reflected activism and sexuality—for example, his film Sebastiane (1976), whose dialogue was delivered entirely in Latin, was one of the earliest British movies to feature positive images of gay sexuality. Farrelly’s stage production is inspired by Jarman’s journals that detail that last few years of his life. This is the first time that Jarman will be be performed outside of the UK.

When: Until February 8

Where: Para Site, 22/F, Wing Wah Industrial Building, 677 King’s Road, Quarry Bay

What: Offerings for Escalante is the first solo international exhibition in Asia for artist duo Amy Lien and Enzo Camacho. The title is drawn from the 1985 Escalante Massacre that occurred in town of the same name in the Philippine province of Negros. In 2022, Lien and Camacho spent months there, interviewing survivors of the massacre, which was the result of a paramilitary reaction to protests against archaic and unjust land ownership rules and farming practices. They interspersed these testimonials with current footage of the city and imprinted natural materials foraged during their stay on the lens; the resulting documentary film sheds light on the collective remembrance of and mourning for the incident, and reflects history’s cyclical nature, contextualised in the Philippines and the fight for land and economic reform. The film is supplemented by animation, a sculptural installation and drawings.

This exhibition premiered at Para Site and will travel to the CCA Berlin—Center for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow International and MoMA PS1. 

When: Until January 28

Where: Eaton Hong Kong, 380 Nathan Road, Jordan

What: Don’t miss Eaton’s inaugural three-month festival that celebrates the mind, body and well-being through workshops, talks, exhibitions, performances and screenings by artists in different disciplines. Highlights include the Hong Kong Ballet’s four solo and duet performances that reflect each performer’s innermost thoughts; German choreographer and dancer Julian Weber’s performance and exhibition on confronting fear; Movie Movie’s screening of The Little Prince for families; and a screening of Chilean French surrealist filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Psychomagic: A Healing Art, an experimental project that presents his trauma therapy theory. 

When: January 27

Where: Hong Kong Disneyland, Lantau Island

What: Renowned Chinese pianist Lang Lang will perform a 45-minute Disney Classic Live concert in front of the Castle of Magical Dreams at Hong Kong Disneyland. The programme includes popular pieces such as It’s A Small World, The Lion King’s Can You Feel the Love Tonight and Frozen’s Let It Go. His music, accompanied by a string quartet, will be paired with visual effects projected on to the castle, and performances by Disney’s iconic characters such as Mickey Mouse, Elsa from Frozen, Miguel from Coco, and Belle and Beast from Beauty and the Beast. Passes can be purchased from January 3.

Speaking about the concert, Lang Lang says, “My earliest memory of Disney was winning a trip to Tokyo Disneyland when I was a child in 1995. I’ve loved Disney music ever since. Everyone knows Disney music, so the challenge for me is to come up with special interpretations. I want to showcase my piano techniques and I’ve added more of a romantic flair to the pieces.”

“Walt Disney appreciated music. He wanted to inject classical music into his animations to make the visuals and storytelling interesting. This is why music has been important to the Disney brand. Disney music breaks cultural boundaries and connects different cultures,” says Fiona Yu, Hong Kong Disneyland’s production director. “We are thrilled to invite a piano star to celebrate our 100th anniversary.”

Don’t miss: Lang Lang on Hong Kong’s music potential globally, and when learning music becomes a ‘waste of time’

When: From January to March

Where: M+ Cinema, West Kowloon

What: M+ Cinema’s winter edition looks at how many facets of Beijing—its existence as as a city, its culture and the lives of its inhabitants—are portrayed in film. It features blockbusters and classics such as Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor (1987), independent films that explore personal stories in Chinese society, and documentary films which showcase China’s fashion industry.

When: From January 27 to February 4

Where: The Box, Freespace, West Kowloon

What: Rooftop Productions and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts’ School of Drama join forces on a production that explores a group of young people’s path to adulthood. Inspired by John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost and pamphlet Areopagitica, the play details the young people’s struggle between the desire for freedom and respecting authority in contemporary Hong Kong. Premiered in 2022, this revised version blends live original music, theatre, pop culture references and William Blake’s illustrated versions of Paradise Lost. This production is part of WestK Creators, a West Kowloon series that nurtures new performing arts talents.

When: Since November, 2023

Where: Online

What: Beyond Batman jumping off IFC and Quarry Bay's "monster building" in Transformers: Age of Extinction, what stories does the city of Hong Kong have to offer to the international cinema? Hong Kong Tourism Board joins forces with CJ ENM, a South Korean entertainment company, on a short film project called Hong Kong in the Lens by Asian Directors to highlight the historic and cultural areas of the city and the stories of its people.

Thai director Nattawut Poonpiriya, known for his box office hit Bad Genius (2017), saw the grittiness of the city in a new light, as presented in his short film Zi Mui, which means "sisters" in Cantonese. In this story, two sisters, with completely opposite personalities, journeyed from Thailand to reunite in Hong Kong to look for their father who abandoned their mother a long time ago. In this daunting search, which takes them to the hypnotising bars in the SoHo area of Central, nightclubs and a family-owned dim sum restaurant, they make peace with their past and family conflicts.

Filipina director Cathy Garcia-Sampana worked on a rom-com, in which a heartbroken influencer yearns for love. As she falls for the breathtaking Sai Kung village and travels to the artsy West Kowloon district, she also gradually realise there has always been a secret angel showering her with care. For this piece, Garcia-Sampana returned to Hong Kong for the shoot. "While I like the city’s human touch and culture, this time, I had the opportunity to show the other side of Hong Kong, highlighting the beautiful architecture of the buildings and the intersection between artistic galleries and vibrant murals," she says.

The final short is by South Korean director Kang Yunsung, who challenged himself with his first romantic fantasy piece Hong Kong, Within Me. In the story, Hye-rim, who lives in South Korea, finds herself waking up to Hong Kong's 1881 shopping arcade one day and being trapped in a never-ending dream. She is surprised to meet her old friend, who has settled down in the city to pursue his dream of owning a cha chaan teng. “The dishes in Hong Kong’s cha chaan teng are very unique and totally different from what we can find in a Korean café. I hope viewers from my country can learn more about Hong Kong’s local culinary culture through the film,” says Kang.

The films are available on various television channels across Asia. Find out more from discoverhongkong.com.

When: January 17 to 24

Where: AIA Carnival, Central Harbourfront

What: Created in collaboration with Warner Music Asia, the AIA Carnival circus big top will play host to a series of international and local music acts. For a start, Griff, Gen Z English singer and songwriter who has been praised by the likes of Taylor Swift, will be coming to Hong Kong for the first time. Another highlight is Toronto-bred, LA based duo Crash Adams, who will be sharing the stage with Hong Kong pop bands Dear Jane and Zpecial. In the local series, rising stars Moon Tang and Kiri T, who recently released a Christmas album together, and Nancy Kwai, who just won silver in the Ultimate Song Chart Awards, will grace the stage with their performance Future is Now.

The weekend will feature acts across genres: British tech-house artist Cloonee; Mania - The ABBA Tribute; the collaboration between Hong Kong Chamber Orchestra and The Holy Spirits, a DJ trio of Kulu, El Toro - Andrew Bull and Suiki, who will take visitors on a walk down the Hong Kong dance floor classics memory lane.

When: From January 14 to 21

Where: The Box, Freespace, West Kowloon

What: Following Hong Kong theatre director and choreographer Ivanhoe Lam's 2020 work Living Up to Her at the Mills, Tsuen Wan, this 90-minute production, created in collaboration with the Silent Teachers Body Donation Program by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, invites audience to experience the process of rebirth.

Lam bands with playwright Santayana Li, Golden Melody Award winner Hirsk and the City Contemporary Dance Company to bring together an experience of dance, installations, text, live videos and electronic music. Visitors are invited to walk around the black box and to interact with the performers as they navigate their way through this space—and phase—between life and death before they are "reborn" at the theatre with a new perspective on life.

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