Titanic-like sweep of Hong Kong Dance Awards and a sinking feeling about dance’s standing
The Butterfly Lovers wins in 6 of 8 categories at Hong Kong Dance Awards, where speakers bemoan lack of resources for art form in the city
You don’t often hear a Hong Kong dance production compared to a blockbuster film’s success on Oscars night, but that was how the Hong Kong Dance Alliance described a near clean sweep of its annual awards by Hong Kong Ballet’s The Butterfly Lovers.
The award for best medium (sic) venue production went to City Contemporary Dance Company (CCDC) for Living Up to Death, while the award for best small venue production was shared between Tai Kwun’s Memory Trace of Western Chamber and Common Ground’s Imagined Altar.
The Butterfly Lovers, which is based on a traditional Chinese folk tale of the same name, premiered at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre’s Grand Theatre on October 18, 2024. It will soon tour to the United States: Hong Kong Ballet will perform it at New York’s David H. Koch Theatre between August 22 and 24.