City Contemporary Dance Company Studio Theatre, HK Cultural Centre Tomorrow and Saturday, 8pm; Apr 11, 3pm
And so they lived happily ever after. 'That is how most fairytales end and that is the line that inspired my new work,' says Noel Pong Chi-kwan of her piece Fairy Tales - To Be Continued.
The City Contemporary Dance Company (CCDC) choreographer/dancer says she often wonders if these stories were to continue, what would have come after the final chapter: 'What if there was another page to turn? What would happen on the following morning after the prince and princess rode off into the sunset?'
Pong (above right) came up with various scenarios but eventually gave up because she did not want to tell a brand new story. Instead, she decided to change parts of these tales to give them a different ending. What if Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty had slept for another 50 years? Would she still find love when she comes around?
'I want to convey the emotions and feelings of these characters in these new [but less perfect] situations,' Pong says. 'My piece will be quite moody and have a darker edge but I wouldn't call it serious.'
Fairy Tales - To Be Continued is part of the CCDC's upcoming double-bill, which also features Dominic Wong Dick-man's Punk Side Story, his take on the Broadway musical West Side Story. Though his piece has a similar plot - boy and girl from two feuding clans meet and fall in love - the focus is not on the storytelling but themes of love and conflict.