Displaying Chinese aesthetics in Hong Kong stage performance

To the music of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, nearly 20 Hong Kong dancers put on a display of the shared origin of martial arts and dance through demonstrations of martial arts including tai chi, tuishou (a kind of battling techniques) and sanda (freestyle fighting).

Miranda Chin, artistic director of Hong Kong-based Miranda Chin Dance Company, says that countless artists around the world have interpreted The Rite of Spring through their own cultures, which inspired her to create a dance drama that integrates Chinese elements and aesthetics.

After more than 20 years of refinement, He and The Rite of Spring ("he" means "harmony" in Chinese) made its debut at French May, an art and cultural event in Hong Kong, in June last year.

It was one of 12 arts projects in Hong Kong to receive awards from the China National Arts Fund 2024.The funding enabled Chin's dance company to go on tour throughout the year.

Later this year, the company will take the production to France. Chin looks forward to seeing a foreign audience appreciate Chinese culture, which values harmony and peace, through music that is familiar to them.

Chin began creating the dance drama in 2002 when she developed a passion for tai chi and martial arts. Based on ancient Chinese sacrificial rites, Chin incorporated tai chi and the other previously mentioned battling arts in her initial creation.

"Being able to devise new connotations for a classic like The Rite of Spring from the perspective of Chinese aesthetics and modern dance not only reflects the beauty of traditional Chinese culture, but also shows the innovation of contemporary artistic creation," says Chin.

She says she will continue to explore possibilities for the integration of Chinese and European cultures in the future.

As a dancer in the 1960s, Chin was exposed to a range of dance styles, including ballet and jazz. Of them all, she was most passionate about Chinese dances.

"The costumes, music and movements of Chinese dance are rich, which fascinates me," Chin says, adding that she has always sought to understand her culture through dance.

Over the decades, Chin has choreographed and directed nearly 100 dances, many of which were rooted in Chinese culture. "I hope these dances will serve as ambassadors of cultural exchange, spreading Chinese culture more widely," she says.