‘It was so exciting’: Hong Kong Dance Awards 2023 big winners as community enjoys first big in-person events since the pandemic
- The Hong Kong Dance Awards 2023 celebrated the achievements of dance professionals who created incredible work while still under the shadow of the pandemic
- Past and present winners of the awards talk about their careers and new projects coming up later this year
After three years of social distancing, the Hong Kong dance community has finally been able to have a proper blowout.
There was much to celebrate.
On April 22, the first in-person Hong Kong Dance Awards presentation and gala performance since Covid appeared celebrated the achievements of dance professionals who managed to create incredible productions and performances while still under the shadow of pandemic.
The following day, a big party at the West Kowloon Cultural District marked the “30th anniversary” of the Hong Kong Dance Alliance (HKDA), presenter of the annual awards since 1999. The highlight was a special performance of Double Happiness: The Promise of Red, Mui Cheuk-yin’s new work for the inaugural “Freespace Dance” festival, which celebrates visionary women choreographers.
Separately, “Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels”, a new annual festival, will also take place from May 5 to 21 at multiple venues.
“It was so exciting to see so many dance practitioners in the same room, maskless for the first time in three years,” says Shirley Loong, executive director of the alliance, about the dance awards presentation. “Covid affected us all both physically and mentally and dancers are no exception, but we will all recover from it and some have already recovered.”