Christmas circus at Tai Kwun arts centre in Hong Kong features performances, food, arts and crafts
- Tai Kwun’s Circus Plays programme includes performances, festive workshops and Christmas-themed food and drinks
- Fresh out of quarantine, Spanish aerial circus performers David Moreno Cia and Cristina Calleja will bring their Flotados show to Asia for the first time
The circus is coming to Tai Kwun. The heritage and arts centre in Hong Kong’s Central district will host a packed Circus Plays programme that includes performances and workshops.
“It’s the fourth year we’ve had a circus-themed programme,” says Eddy Zee, Tai Kwun’s head of performing arts. “Each year we want to surprise, to provide something rarely seen in Hong Kong.”
Curating the line-up during a pandemic, however, has not been easy. Last week, two international acts – the much-anticipated Only Bones v1.0, an award-winning solo show by New Zealand mime artist Thom Monckton, and PLI, by Czech multidisciplinary artist Viktor Černicky – had to be cancelled because of the latest boarding and quarantine restrictions for inbound travellers.
But, as the old saying goes, the show must go on.
Frieda Cheuk-yan Ng, curator of Tai Kwun Circus Plays, says that one must-see is Spanish circus duo David Moreno Cia and Cristina Calleja, who are bringing their world-famous performance Flotados to Asia for the first time. “This is a circus love story,” says Ng of the couple, who are scheduled to emerge tomorrow after three weeks’ quarantine, just in time for their debut performance on Wednesday.
“It’s been tough with the constant changes to hotel quarantine,” Ng says. “But we have done our best to make it happen, even requesting a dancing pole in the hotel room so Cristina can practise her acrobatics.”
The centrepiece of Flotados, she says, is a huge piano suspended eight metres above the ground, around which the pair will perform.
The ChristMice Cracker, a performance by Hong Kong’s TS Crew that blends martial arts, parkour, lion dance, opera, circus and beatbox, is another highlight, says Ng, who adds that the show is inspired by classic ballet The Nutcracker.
Craft lovers are well catered for, too, with a series of festive workshops, and Tai Kwun restaurants and bars will be dishing up festive treats.
Learn how to make hand-woven coasters at the 112 mountainyam shop and immerse yourself in contemporary – the Japanese art of putting broken pottery pieces back together – at Touch Ceramics’ Christmas workshop.
Eat, drink and be merry with Madame Fu’s set menu, which includes a Christmas Dim Sum Basket, and The Dispensary’s Golden Christmas cocktail, a concoction of mulled gin, caramel and fermented apples, finished with chocolate bitters and topped up with champagne. Those with a sweet tooth can find their festive fix courtesy of seasonal handmade gift sets from cake brand Phoenix Sweets.
All of this and more unfolds around The Giving Tree, a 12-metre-tall Christmas tree that takes pride of place in Tai Kwun’s Italian-style piazza, decked with limited-edition ornaments that can also be bought online, with proceeds going to local charity The Community Chest of Hong Kong.
