Fragrance - a Dance Poem on Hong Kong Association of Hong Kong Dance Organisations HK Cultural Centre Grand Theatre, January 3-4 This production of the Association of Hongkong Dance Organisations ambitiously assembled 400-plus dancers from more than 10 dance troupes, with original music composed by Yip Shun-chi and arranged by his son, Ye Xiaogong. It provided an excellent opportunity for the various organisations to come together under professional choreographers, learn from each other and experience what it is like to perform in a large public venue.
However, perhaps because of its sheer size, Fragrance suffered overall from being too regimented, lacking in both spirit and individuality. Fragrance was as notable for what it left out as for what it kept in.
Hong Kong was a British colony for well over 100 years, but not one reference was made to this, nor to our colonial education system, nor to people emigrating in fear of 1997.
Divided into eight dance sequences, the work employed a storytelling approach, tracing Hong Kong from a fishing village up to the cosmopolitan city of the present day. Dances that did show some spirit and originality were Poorman Must Work Hard, From Drizzles to Downpour and White Collars and Blue Collars.
Between each sequence slides were hastily projected on to the backdrop. But the silent pauses between dances hampered the fluidity and the free flow of the dances.
The sequences culminated in a mass celebration entitled The Dream Come True, but what we saw were 100 gloomy drummers beating out a vision of Hong Kong that struck a bit of a chill.