Hong Kong choreographer Helen Lai’s work celebrated in City Contemporary Dance Company double bill
- Winterreise and The Rite of Spring show the range of Lai’s talent, from the intimate to the flamboyant, and much to enjoy as dance or theatre
- Lai’s mastery of the stage is on display throughout, with outstanding performances from guest artists Chou Shu-yi and Irene Lo
Any work by Helen Lai, doyenne of Hong Kong choreographers, is eagerly awaited.
City Contemporary Dance Company’s latest double bill of one new and one classic Lai piece shows the range of her talent, from the intimate to the flamboyant and offers much to enjoy as dance or theatre, with live music of superlative quality as a bonus.
An extended run, with performances over two weekends instead of just one, is a bold departure for the company that looks to be reinventing itself with a number of new dancers joining.
One of the masterpieces of German lieder, Franz Schubert’s 1828 Winterreise (Winter Journey) is also one of the most sombre. Rejected by the girl he loves, the protagonist abandons love and happiness and embarks on a lonely journey through the winter snows that ends in desolation. The heartbreaking beauty and melancholy of the song cycle reflect the tragic destiny of its authors: Schubert was already fatally ill when he composed it, dying the same year at the age of 31; Wilhelm Müller, whose poems form the basis of the work, had died the year before aged 32.
Lai had previously created a short piece set to Winterreise in 1984 – the 2019 work, which includes 10 of the cycle’s 24 songs, is effectively completely new.