Eastern promises
A well-rounded season
features
both classical and contemporary arts.
From the traditional to the experimental, from the local to the exotic, the 19th Macau Arts Festival (MAF) promises a remarkably balanced programme offering something for everyone. Equal proportions of dance, music and theatre – as well as various combinations of the three – await Macau audiences young and old throughout the month of May. Groups from Israel, South Korea, Mexico and Canada bring particularly intriguing multidisciplinary spectacles, on the cutting edge of the world art scene, while dancers from the Netherlands, Spain and India span the spectrum of modern, fusion and ancient forms. Classics of the Western European and Chinese musical traditions round out the schedule, which wouldn’t be complete without the latest satire from Macau’s own Patuá-language theatre group.
The young performers of Nederlands Dans Theater II bring a triptych of modern choreography to the Grand Auditorium of the Macau Cultural Centre on the 27th, in what will surely be a highlight event on this year’s MAF programme. The company, founded in 1978 for dancers from 17 to 22 years of age, will perform works by their resident choreographers and former artistic directors, Hans van Manen and Jií Kylián, as well as a piece by Israeli guest choreographer Ohad Naharin.
The Dutch group’s pioneering spirit in abstract modern dance stands in contrast to the fusion aesthetic of the Nuevo Ballet Español, who close the Festival programme on the 29th and 30th with Sangre Flamenca. Artistic directors Ángel Rójas and Carlos Rodríguez draw heavily on Spain’s native flamenco dance tradition, combining it with contemporary dance to create passionate, colourful and challenging work.
Earlier in the month, performances at Lou Kau Mansion provide a rare opportunity to enjoy an ancient and exotic dance tradition. Pallavi Krishnan brings the delicate grace of Mohiniyattam, a classical Indian dance originating in the southern state of Kerala, to the historic building in the centre of Macau on the 9th through the 12th. Graceful movements are performed in a richly gilded costume to the accompaniment of bewitching South Indian music played live by a vocal, flute and percussion trio.
Still more arts are synthesised in the spectacle The Aluminum Show, which opens the 19th MAF on the 1st of the month. The Israeli company blends acrobatic dance, visual theatre and special effects to bring a world of shimmering metallic objects to life. Their multidisciplinary spirit is shared in the opening week by the South Korean eco-music troupe Noridan, whose surreal fantasy turns such recycled objects as bottles, barrels and pipes into simple and complex musical instruments, performed with a mix of dance and circus arts.
The group’s fifth creation, PingPangPong, comes to the Brito Clementina Leitão Ho Theatre in two shows on the first weekend in May.
Classics of East and West
While the avant garde music of Noridan springs from discarded objects in the north of Macau, gems of British classical chamber music come to life on oboe, strings and piano at Dom Pedro V Theatre, May 3rd. Members of the Macau Orchestra pay this musical tribute to merry old England with music by early 20th century composers Benjamin Britten, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Edward Elgar. The Macau Orchestra has a vibrant role in this year’s festival season, hosting in two additional concerts the phenomenal violinist, Pinchas Zukerman. The Israeli virtuoso conducts and performs violin concertos by Bach and Beethoven in the MCC Grand Auditorium on the 16th and brings chamber music back to Dom Pedro V the following day joining orchestra musicians for string works by Mozart and Mendelssohn.
The Macau Orchestra’s counterpart in the realm of Chinese music has the honour of playing host to a pair of equally auspicious guest soloists. The Macau Chinese Orchestra will perform the beloved Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto on May 4th, joined by violin prodigy Li Chuan Yun, as well as the famous Yellow River Piano Concerto with pianist Yin Chengzong, the original performer and one of the creators of the work. Also on the concert are two world premieres by Chinese composers celebrating Macau, commissioned by the Cultural Affairs Bureau for this festival season.
The Alegria Cinema provides the stage for two historic Chinese traditions combining music and theatre this year. From the Mainland province of Zhejiang comes Wu Opera and a retelling of the renowned Legend of the White Snake on the 18th. The following weekend Macau’s own General Association of Chinese Opera and Music mounts a staging of the Cantonese opera The Crossing, featuring the colourful costumes and graceful, stylised gestures typical of the art form.
Drama Redefined
Two more local groups bring playwrights’ visions to the stage this MAF season.The young actors of the Little Mountain Arts Association create a magical world with the children’s drama The Magic Stone, sure to please audiences of all ages in the Small Auditorium of the MCC at the close of the Festival, May 29th and 30th.
Earlier in the month, the Small Auditorium hosts three performances of the latest satire from the pen of Miguel de Senna Fernandes. Playwright and director of the Dóci Papiáçam di Macau Drama Group, he has been a sustaining force in the literary revival of the unique dialect of Macau, composing yearly a Patuá play that shows Macau a comic look at itself. Sórti Dóci (Sweet Luck) goes straight to the heart of the matter, dealing with youngsters’ and the gaming industry on two evening shows and a Sunday matinée on the weekend of the 10th and 11th.
Taking theatre to extremes this season are two companies invited from North America. Mexico’s Sensorama – Multiperceptual Experiences gives several performances per day over a ten day period at Lou Kau Mansion from the 16th to the 25th. Eliminating the visual altogether, the work forces blindfolded audiences to reach out with their other senses and grasp the atmospheric adventure.
On the other hand, Canada’s 4D Art accentuates the visual to an astonishing degree in their rendition of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Using spectacular technological effects, the magical world of the storm is made vividly real with virtual lightning and holographic imagery. The electric drama will thrill audiences in the Macau Cultural Centre Grand Auditorium on the 23rd and 24th of May.
