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SCMP Reporter

Hong Kong's annual festival of French art and culture is back again. The 14th Le French May will  celebrate art, dance, music and movies.

Organised by the Consulate General of France in association with the Alliance Francaise de Hong Kong and supported by the Hong Kong Leisure and Cultural Services Department, it will run from May 1 to June 21.

This year's highlights include the opera Carmen by George Bizet, and an exhibition related to the art of engraving from the Louvre Museum. The exhibition puts on show 'Coronelli's globes' for the first time outside of France.

With interest in the festival growing every year, organisers are offering a wide range of events to suit different tastes.

Press officer Vivien Leung  said a number of programmes will appeal to local teens.

They are Margo, About Love, The Night of the Ad Eaters, Eating Dogs Tour, Sinclair: the French Mr Funk, and (Im)mortality of a Soul/City.

Margo by Archaos is a multi-arts performance about 10 people's  challenges and clashes. It won The Great National Prize of Circus awarded by the French Ministry of Culture in 1989.

Ms Leung said the word 'margo' originates from the Latin word 'marge', meaning a limit or edge.

'The performance is a presentation of  people who

face social challenges and psychological struggles. The actors move on a specially designed tilting  stage and try to find each other. It  resembles precarious situations that take place in the real world.'

Alice Chiappero, cultural affairs co-ordinator from the Alliance Francaise de Hong Kong,  said Margo is a blend of different genres of art and dance.

'The performers  use hip-hop, martial arts and acrobatics skills and mix them together. There is also a  fusion of jungle and electronic music.'

About Love is  performed by eight dancers from the Joelle Bouvier Dance Company.

'Teenagers have a lot of expectations about love,' said Ms Leung. 'For thousands

of years, there have been uncountable representations of love. But I think there's no better way to express love than through the body. About Love is simply about love.'

The Night of the Ad Eaters, a five-hour audiovisual show,  presents advertisements  from more than 45 countries.

'It's an opportunity for teenagers to catch a glimpse of different cultures around the world,' said Ms Leung.

Liliane Kee, the Alliance Francaise de Hong Kong's officer in charge of this programme, said it's the sixth time the show has been included in the  Le French May lineup.

'It will present both successful and unsuccessful advertisements so that the audience can learn effective shooting skills, and how professionals put their creative ideas  to work. It has been popular among students who want to learn about advertising, and it's interesting for other students.'

If you are  interested in street art, Eating Dogs Tour is a

must-see. Graffiti artist Ceet and his friends, including the DJs from Fonky Family, will put on a hip-hop dance and do street painting  in Lan Kwai Fong for a day.

The programme is divided into two parts.

'One is D'Aguilar Street Painting; it's free and is recommended for teenagers who are interested in hip hop. The other part will be held at C Club, California and Lux,  and there will be hip-hop parties, music and break dancers.  Students can take part in these nightclub events only if they are over 18,' Ms Leung said.

In Sinclair: the French Mr Funk, the DJ will wow the crowd with his mix of soul, pop and funk. Ms Chiappero said Sinclair is popular among French teenagers, especially girls.

'The tunes are  lovely, so even if you can't understand the French lyrics, you can dance to the songs.'

The sixth attraction is an installation art exhibition called (Im)mortality of a Soul/City.

Ms Leung says it's about a lost soul. Ling Wen (which sounds similar to the word for  'soul' in Cantonese) was a  schoolmate of artist Lo Yin-shan. Ling went to Paris in the 1980s and Lo went there in search of Ling, as well as for his own soul.

'Lo's journey in Paris  is expressed through the installation art.

'We have all lost ourselves at some point and sometimes feel displaced. This exhibition can help us  orientate ourselves and find lost friendship,' she said.

For more information, visit  www.frenchmay.com



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