First steps in friendship
REPRESENTATIVES from China, Taiwan and Hongkong sharing the same stage and what's more, getting along famously? It may not be the big breakthrough, but 3D, being presented tonight and tomorrow night at the Arts Centre's Shouson Theatre demonstrates that the world of dance has the edge on politics any day.
The title has a double meaning; not just the obvious, but three gifted dancer-choreographers who will each present two short works.
Sheng Pui-qi, trained in classical Chinese dance at the Beijing Dance Academy and currently a guest lecturer at the Academy for Performing Arts (APA), will perform The River of Tears and The Butterfly Lovers - both given awards by China's Ministry of Culture in 1988.
Ku Ming-shen, who received her BA in dance at the Chinese Culture University, Taiwan, and her master's in fine arts from the University of Illinois, will dance Memory Lost and I was a choreographer. Finally, Mui Cheuk-yin, former principal with the Hongkong Dance Company and winner of the 1992 Best Dancer of the Year award presented by the Hongkong Artists' Guild, will perform Awakening in a Dream and Forest Whisper.
THE posters show three grinning faces in a field. They belong to Jo Thones and brothers Markus and Simon Stockhausen, jointly known as Aparis.
The members of this hot new German jazz trio will make their Hongkong debut this weekend at the Cultural Centre Studio Theatre and the sounds - trumpets, flugelhorn, synthesisers, sax and drums - promise to be lively.
Aparis' aim, says its presenter, the Urban Council, is ''the harmonic interweaving of composed and improvised material embracing a wide range of styles''.
Markus, 34 and Simon, 24, are the sons of eminent composer Karl-Heinz Stockhausen. THE artwork for Colin Tilney is even more alluring. There he sits inside his oval frame, sporting a boyish fringe, a bushy beard and the most mischievous expression. Obviously, the harpsichord - the quaint one in the picture embellished with a floral design - is heaps of fun.
Formerly an opera coach and accompanist in London, Tilney moved to Canada in 1979 and now teaches at the University of Toronto and the Royal Conservatory.
He is better known as one of the world's top early music specialists, interpreting pieces for harpsichord, clavichord and fortepiano. He also has his own group, Les Coucous Benevoles, has done some stunning recordings and will be guest artist at this year's Melbourne International Festival.
If that's not on your agenda, catch Tilney tonight at the City Hall Theatre where he will play works by Rameau, Byrd, Andriessen, Scarlatti and Bach.
ALSO performing tonight is leading Mainland violinist, Jue Yao.
Born in Shanghai, she gave her first public performance at the age of seven, furthered her studies at Juilliard and has won several important awards including the San Francisco Conservatory's Concerto Competition in 1984.
Two years later, Jue Yao made her orchestral debut in Hongkong and has since played with leading orchestras both at home and abroad.
Included in her concert at the Tuen Mun Town Hall will be works by Bach, Beethoven, Wieniawsky and Qin Yong Cheng.
