Mention physical theatre in the city and dance immediately springs to mind. But a new production called Park and Art, which opens next week, sets out to promote the cultural diversity of movement art through a fascinating fusion of styles.
Park and Art, produced by Arts with the Disabled Association Hong Kong and directed by stage veteran Desmond Tang Wai-kit, features a mixture of hip hop, mime, tai chi and yoga. It will be performed at Ngau Chi Wan Civic Centre from August 1 to 3 as part of this year's International Arts Carnival, and is also being held in honour of the forthcoming Beijing Olympic Games.
Tang says the production takes physical theatre in a new direction.
'Most Hongkongers associate physical theatre with dance. Even mime shows are few and far between. Overseas, the definition of this art form is a lot broader so we thought it'd be a good idea to have a mix of different theatre disciplines to be performed by local and foreign artists together,' says Tang.
Taking part in the show will be hearing impaired artists Keith Lee, Edward Chan Yue-tak and Edwin Chan Yu-fat from Theatre of the Silence. They will perform the Beijing Olympics theme song We Are Ready using sign language, facial expressions and mime, to demonstrate the versitality of this type of theatre.
Unlike the Olympic theme, sung in Cantonese, they hope their version will be able to transcend linguistic and cultural barriers, thus reflecting the Olympic spirit of 'One World One Dream'.