Hong Kong Dance Company Open 2024 With Folk Dance Medley Lands In The South

Hong Kong Dance Company will open 2024 with the folk dance medley Lands in the South. Together with several guest choreographers, the Company will present Lingnan dances that are rooted in the daily lives and hometown sentiments of various ethnic groups. Members of HKDC Children's and Youth Troupes will also perform a tea-picking dance full of childlike delight and the rhythmic dance of the Yao drums, interpreting the people's customs and traditions and inspiring their artistic legacy through dance. The folk dance medley Lands in the South will be presented in four performances from 1 to 3 March 2024 at the Sha Tin Town Hall Auditorium.

Lingnan culture centres around agricultural and marine culture: from the rice paddies of the Hakka people and the floating culture of the Tanka people, to items of National Intangible Cultural Heritage such as Yao embroidery, and the Guangdong lion dance and herbal tea (liangcha). These cultural symbols carrying historical imprints are integrated with stage projection to bring alive the personalities and social landscapes of Lingnan culture, highlighting the long history of Chinese culture.

HKDC is honoured to invite Ms Ding Ran, associate professor of Guangdong Dance and Drama College and a national first-class choreographer, to bring us three award-winning dance works conveying the distinctive essence of ethnic life: Yao Embroidery, showing the love and warmth of three generations passing down the Yao scallop embroidery technique; Guangdong Herbal Tea, bitter to drink yet sweet to remember, representing the culinary culture of the Lingnan region and embodying familial love; and Voices of the Mashi Brick Road, in which the clogs stepping on the Mashi Brick Road echo the life moments and joys of Guangzhou people in the olden days, expressing nostalgia for the gradually disappearing Mashi Brick Road and causing us to reflect on our own lives.

Ms Lu Yumei is a national second grade choreographer and director specializing in Lingnan cultural themes. Her works The Scent of Rice Straw, Sparkle in the Rain, and Fishing Song under the Moonlight highlight the unique culture of the Lingnan region, born from the coexistence of the various ethnic groups with the natural environment. The folk dance medley Lands in the South, bringing together several unique chapters illustrating the diversity of Lingnan culture, is the perfect occasion to celebrate and enjoy the Chinese New Year with friends and family.

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