Reviewed: April 28

The City Contemporary Dance Company (CCDC) completed its spring programme with Feng.Shui, a double bill of new works by Daniel Yeung Chun-kwong and Mui Cheuk-yin. Feng.Shui is a slightly misleading title - the pieces don't deal with the Chinese study of environmental balance, but with the separate elements of feng (wind) and shui (water).

Yeung's Feng portrayed different aspects of wind in a series of cleverly titled scenes such as Windsurfers, Windflowers, Windmill. The sparse design and simple white costumes created an impression of space, light and air - a piece in which you could breathe. Video projections were used sparingly, to good effect. A slow, controlled opening solo by Chan Yi-jing ended abruptly as he vanished through a trapdoor in the stage and Xing Liang soared into the air to begin the superb Windsurfer sequence, in which six male dancers created images of floating on the wind, like skydivers.

Equally stunning was Wind-mill, in which all the dancers created spectacular effects by whirling their arms. Windflowers included some attractive double work - rare at CCDC - with a spectacular lift at the end.

The piece was a little long, and the performance of a prologue while the audience was arriving seemed redundant, but it was a pleasure to see so much original and beautiful choreography. Yeung's sculptural approach was much in evidence in the solos and striking groupings. The dancing was excellent, and Xing outstanding.

Mui's Shui was disappointing, however. The piece opened promisingly, with a clever, mirrored set, and Qiao Yang used her long hair to create a vivid impression of being under-water. After that, the piece lost its way, with too little dance, and too much of what seemed like experimental theatre. Rather than creating images of water by using movement, Mui relied too much on splashing water about on stage. That may be wet, but it's not an effective portrayal of water as an element.