20th Macao Arts Festival

The Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR Government presents the 20th Macao Arts Festival (MAF) to be held between 2 and 30 May, 2009. Featuring more than 30 performances by artists from Portugal, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the USA, Canada and Singapore, the Festival season would not be complete without the ever-present spirit of performers from Macao and Mainland China, as well. In a clear show of support for local talent, Macao artists are given the opportunity to début works reflecting the region’s own performing arts scene, while on the international front, the Festival reaffirms itself as a window to the latest creative trends to emerge on stages the world over. The programme brings together theatre, dance, music, opera, cinema and multimedia arts, in a selection extending as well to lesser-known Chinese traditions like Qinqiang opera and Guangdong folk song. The 20th Macao Arts Festival opens with a Sadler’s Wells London production. Sutra (2 May, Macao Cultural Centre Grand Auditorium) is a brand new dance work inspired by the skill, strength and spirituality of Buddhist Shaolin monks, presented by celebrated Flemish/Moroccan choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Macao-born composer Lam Bun-Ching’s contemporary opera Wenji: Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute (3, 4 May at Dom Pedro V Theatre) is the first contemporary chamber opera to be presented in the Festival. Incorporating influences ranging from Chinese Beijing opera to contemporary Western music, the opera is based on the true story of poet/musician Cai Wenji from the Han Dynasty. The story follows a scholar's daughter who becomes a prize of war, torn between two worlds. The local professional orchestras make a substantial contribution to the programme, beginning on 8 May with the concert The Macao Orchestra and Cho-Liang Lin (MCCGA). The Orchestra, led by Lü Jia, along with international superstar violinist Cho-Liang Lin ravish the public with Prokofiev’s masterful Violin Concerto No. 2. Mr. Lin’s interpretation of this work is widely regarded as the “most authoritative”. The Orchestra continues its Chamber Music Series, performing Romantic Evening on 17 May (Dom Pedro V Theatre), a concert dedicated to the Romantic repertoire. The Macao Chinese Orchestra, in turn, is featured in three different concerts. Improvised sand animation by French artist David Myriam plays a central role in the first two concerts: Traditional Music Sceneries I / II (14, 15 May at Dom Pedro V Theatre). As the French artist creates fantastic and poetic figures in moving sand, his evolving creations are projected live, while the Macao Chinese Orchestra sets his art to music with a collection of inspiring and highly evocative pieces. The third concert, entitled Chimeras (24 May at the MCCGA), features four Macao premieres. The talent of the most outstanding Chinese contemporary composers is rivalled only by the genius of Maestro Pang Ka Pang in a showcase of rare and highly complex symphonic pieces. The Macao Folk Arts Association presents two concerts titled One Century of Guangdong Folk Song (23, 24 May at Lou Lim Ieoc Garden). Guangdong Folk Song, famous for its buoyant vitality and elegant rhythm, has become part and parcel of Lingnan’s (Guangdong) Intangible Cultural Heritage. The delightful assortment of original styles, ranging from Cantonese Narrative Singing to Naam Yam and Cantonese Opera, are all to be presented against the evocative backdrop of Lou Lim Ieoc Garden. On 10 May, MASS Ensemble and David Myriam present the show Earth Harp (at the MCCLA). The Earth Harp is the world’s largest stringed instrument. Its strings extend out from the stage to architectural elements at the rear of the auditorium, transforming the hall into one gigantic resonating instrument. MASS blends original music with cutting edge dance and visual arts to create an unforgettable multi-sensory theatrical experience. Live sand drawing is a spectacular and original sort of painting art. French sand animation artist David Myriam joins MASS Ensemble’s production in Macao, using moving sand to create continuously evolving fantastic and poetic figures. The German musical group Trio Bravo+ returns to the Festival with the cinema-live-concert Menschen am Sonntag (23 May at Mount Fortress). Half feature, half documentary, shot with amateur actors, People on Sundays is an outstanding work of the German silent movie avant-garde, directed by Curt and Robert Siodmak, Edgar G. Ulmer and Fred Zinnemann and based on a screenplay by Billy Wilder. The film follows the lives of a group of Berlin residents on a summer day at the Wannsee beach during the inter-war period. Trio Bravo+’s score takes up the easygoing, tempting atmosphere of a summer day and adds new rhythm to the images. Completing the musical palette of the Festival, !BAM Percussion! from Canada bring an eXplosion (28 May at Mount Fortress) that will electrify the crowd with its powerful rhythms and its deliriously funny sketches. The pulsating energy of BAM is contagious: through drumbeats and laughter, it overwhelms the audience. The Macanese Patois theatre group Dóci Papiaçám di Macau creates their now legendary caricature of local society with the premiere of Letrado Chapado? (Right, Mr. Counsellor) at the Macao Cultural Centre's Grand Auditorium on 16 and 17 May. This is the latest work by Miguel de Senna Fernandes, who for more than ten years has gathered Macanese friends to stage these hilarious stories about Macao. This time, the question asked is: What does it really mean to be a lawyer? The Macao General Association of Cantonese Opera and Music, dedicated to preserving and carrying forward the traditional art of Cantonese opera, presents a double-bill: It Is Forty Years Since the Dream Was Broken and A Forced Match on 9 and 10 May, respectively, at the popular Alegria Cinema, maintaining the Chinese opera tradition that has increasingly become a hallmark the MAF season. This year the Little Plum Blossom Qinqiang Opera Troupe brings an operatic style from the Mainland with Women Generals of the Yang Family (27 May at the MCCGA). This opera is a crystallisation of the national spirit, imbued with inspiring heroism. With a strong line-up of young artists in beautiful costumes, this fabulous performance will surely be one of the highlights of the festival. The showcase of local talent continues on 23 May with the concert Melodies of Youth 2009 at the MCCGA, an exciting showcase of classical and pop music from all over the world by students of the Macao Conservatory School of Music, including winners of the Macao Young Musicians Competition. Macao's own professional theatre company Theatre Farmers stages Eugène Ionesco’s Rhinocéros, a play written in 1959 (6 May at the MCCGA). The play, which belongs to the school of drama known as the Theatre of the Absurd, is often read as a response to the sudden upsurge of Fascism, Communism and Nazism during the events preceding World War II and explores the themes of conformity, culture, philosophy and morality. The Macao Fringe Club, another local theatre company, presents Sunrise by Cao Yu (21, 22 May at the Macao Cultural Centre Small Auditorium). Published in 1936, the second play written by this famous contemporary Chinese playwright describes the dark life of the Chinese people during the period from 1931 to 1935 under the reactionary rule of the Kuomintang. International theatre is also present in the festival. New British theatre company 1927 presents Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (8, 9, 10 May at Dom Pedro V Theatre). This play of cabaret theatre cleverly combines live music, performance and storytelling with films and animations. Using the aesthetic of silent film, a series of comic vignettes unfold in which the performers interact with the animations. Drama Box Ltd. from Singapore and the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre join forces to present Drift (22 May at the MCCGA). This tale of two cities – Singapore and Shanghai – spans three generations where cultures and memories are contested in the speed of modernisation. It features a stellar cast including Zhou Yemang and Lim Kay Siu. A family favourite, puppet theatre was not forgotten on this Festival programme. Between 15 and 17 May, the Lou Kau Mansion hosts the Bonecos de Santo Aleixo from Portugal. The “dynasty” of these puppets dates from the middle of the 19th century. They are manipulated by a “family” of professional actors which guarantees the authenticity of the performances. In Macao they will perform The Story of the Creation of the World and The Story of the Birth of Jesus. The Spanish puppet theatre company El Retablo presents Animales, a concert of small histories concerning the animal world, on 23 and 24 May at the Macao Conservatory Auditorium. These shows are a celebration for the senses of the child, a theatrical proposal as a game between diverse elements, a game that will produce in the child an intellectual, emotional and aesthetic experience. Comedic theatre is also featured in the festival with Ennio Marchetto (28, 29 May at MCCSA), a world renowned and awarded Italian comedian who has created his own theatrical language mixing mime, dance, music and quick change costumes made out of cardboard and paper. In 18 years Ennio has performed in over 70 countries for more than a million people, and his show has received numerous awards and international critical acclaim. The Festival also offers multidisciplinary performances. Canadian company L’Arsenal à Musique presents L’Arche (24 May at the MCCSA). In a series of tableaux, The Ark gently invites us to reflect upon the slow crumbling of the world around us. Using music, projections and performance to celebrate life, The Ark takes a critical look at the delicate balance between man and nature. Davy and Kristin McGuire present Silent Movie (23, 24, 28 May at Lou Kau Mansion), a multimedia performance that mixes projections and live acting and is viewed by the audience through holes made in the front wall of a huge wooden box. The couple also presents A Study of Eating Habits, an interactive video installation designed as a life-sized, immersive, walk-through installation which depicts the story of a couple’s relationship through the meals they eat (23~28 May at Lou Kau Mansion). Dance rivals music as one of the main highlights of the Festival. Portuguese contemporary dance company Quorum Ballet (12 May at the Macao Cultural Centre Grand Auditorium) has a reputation for presenting subtle works and performances of quality. Impacto is a piece about how human beings are changing in the modern world – the often isolating world of communication and technology – and how that world affects their identity. Last but not least, the performing group bringing the 20th edition of this Festival to a close is British Hofesh Shechter Company (29 and 30 May at the MCCGA). Hofesh Shechter exploded on to the international dance scene last year with his acclaimed works In your rooms and Uprising. Political, urban and uncompromisingly direct, his choreography has a raw, distinctive edge that has earned him a well-deserved reputation as “a true original” (The Guardian). The performing arts contribute further to the MAF itinerary with a series of shows to take place in the north of Macao between 15 and 17 May. The Outdoor Performing Arts Showcase, to be held at Iao Hon Garden, brings together international and Chinese artists who present a marathon of performances falling just outside the mainstream, including Chrome from Australia, Jamie Adkins from Canada, Urbano Drums from Portugal and Mime Crime from Germany, in addition to The Macao Conservatory Drama School and local and Mainland China Cantonese opera performers and musicians. Also provided are workshops and conferences supporting the events, with the objective of stimulating public interest in the arts. In accordance with a long-standing MAF tradition, rehearsals for some of the performances will be open to the public. The Macao Government Tourist Office kindly supports promotion of the 20th Macao Arts Festival in Mainland China and overseas. The performances held at the Macao Cultural Centre are supported by the Macao Cultural Centre’s rental subsidy scheme. Tickets for the 20th Macao Arts Festival will be available after 10am on 29 March 2009 at all Kong Seng Ticketing outlets. Telephone and online bookings will be available from 1pm on 29 March. There will be a variety of discount plans (up to 40%). Detailed publicity materials are available at ticket counters. For more information please check the website of the Cultural Affairs Bureau at www.icm.gov.mo/fam. Information (853) 2855 5555 in Macao; (852) 2380 5083 in Hong Kong Online Reservations: www.macauticket.com