19th Macao City Fringe Festival inaugurated
The opening ceremony of the 19th Macao City Fringe Festival, organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau, was held on 10 January, at 2:30pm, at the Mount Fortress Garden. The ceremony was officiated by the President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Mok Ian Ian, and representatives of participating art groups of this edition of the Fringe Festival; and was attended by the Head of the Department of Performing Arts Development, Iu Wai Man; the Head of the Division of Performing Arts, U Weng Hong; and representatives of other art groups. An intriguing opening performance was presented, allowing the audience to experience the charm of contemporary dance at close range.
Presented by dancers from UK, Spain, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macao, the one-hour opening performance Body Traveller, under the subtheme “On Site” of the “Crème de la Fringe” special series, introduced the audience to contemporary dance works in different styles. A list of programmes will also take place at other venues, including ImprovFlashMob under the subtheme “On Site” of “Crème de la Fringe” at Senado Square and the Ruins of St. Paul’s; Binaural Dinner Date by ZU-UK from the United Kingdom at Café Falala, which is a combination of an interactive performance and speed dating that helps participants to break the ice within an hour; and Macao Murder Tour by Compass Association of Creative Theatre, who will run a guided tour on a bus to treat the audience to a very different tour experience.
The 19th Macao City Fringe Festival, to be held from 10 to 19 January, also offers more intriguing performances. In the subtheme “Puppet and Object Theatre Festival in Coloane” of the “Crème de la Fringe” series, elements of community, puppetry and people will meet in Coloane. The puppet theatre programme Fragile stimulates the audience’s rich imagination through a mixed use of simple materials and picture books, light shadows, puppet manipulation and camera movements. Story Market by the Rolling Puppet Alternative Theatre features intriguing and unique story boxes with holes that allow the audience to see the dazzling world created by the puppeteer. Once upon a time in Macao invites the audience to discover the city through music and a communion between past and present. Melodic Fantasy by the Black Sand Theatre and the Clube dos Amigos do Riquexó is a performance for children to enjoy theatre, featuring puppets, actors, a lovely dancer, and magical sounds. Put out the Flame, a dance theatre production under the subtheme “On Site” of “Crème de la Fringe”, is a dive into the emotional distance inside a couple’s life directed by the British seasoned choreographer Jos Baker, who is a former dancer of Peeping Tom and DV8 Physical Theatre.
In addition, the Fringe Festival will hold 13 outreach activities, including workshops, talks, exhibitions, exchange seminars and the backstage volunteer campaign “Slashie”, offering a diverse art experience. The exhibition “Unforgettable Memory of Macao Garment Industry” is held at Patane Library from today until 19 January 2020, presenting local garment workers’ life stories in the form of words, objects, sounds, images and costume designs and creating a memory map of the industry.
Tickets for the Fringe Festival are available at the Macau Ticketing Network. Tickets for some of the Festival’s programmes are limited and the public is advised to purchase as soon as possible. Online registration for outreach activities can be made at www.icm.gov.mo/eform/event. For phone registration and enquiries, please contact IC through tel. no. 8399 6872 during office hours. For more information about the programmes, please visit the Festival’s website at www.macaucityfringe.gov.mo or the “Macao City Fringe Festival” page on Facebook. 24-hour ticketing hotline: (853) 2855 5555; ticketing website: www.macauticket.com.
