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szdaily -> Culture -> 
HK Arts Festival cancels most in-venue performances, postpones others
    2022-02-17  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

THE 50th Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF) has canceled most of its in-venue performances.

“Laila,” an interactive opera co-produced by the Hong Kong Arts Festival and Finnish National Opera and Ballet, is among in-venue performances canceled or postponed by the festival. The event will be staged at a later date.

Organizers of the festival, which opens Feb. 28, made an early decision after the number of COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong rose sharply following the Lunar New Year holiday.

New infections rose above 1,000 per day this week, and experts have forecast there will be 28,000 new infections per day by the end of March. The closure of performance venues, announced to curb the spread of COVID-19, has been extended until Feb. 23.

In a statement last Thursday, organizers said: “In view of the uncertainty surrounding venue availability and social distancing measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the HKAF is announcing changes to a number of in-venue programs.

“Details regarding the rescheduling of selected programs will be announced in due course.”

This marks the third year of major disruptions for the festival, which had to cancel its entire lineup in 2020 and move most of the 2021 program online.

The highly anticipated “Laila,” an AI-powered immersive opera with no live performers and a pandemic-friendly audience size limit, has not been spared, although the festival, co-producer with the Finnish National Opera and Ballet, has promised to reschedule it when conditions allow.

Major cancellations on the music side include three concerts by South Korea’s Esmé Quartet, the festival-opening Mahler concert by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hong Kong Sinfonietta’s “Reflections on Refractions” concert in the Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall to celebrate the venue’s 60th birthday.

Dance fans will be denied the chance to see Hong Kong Ballet’s local premiere of “Juanita y Alicia,” a work inspired by its artistic director Septime Webre’s Cuban family roots, and two performances by Xiao Ke, one of China’s most celebrated contemporary dancers.

Another major dance performance now canceled is “Colossus.” Australian choreographer Stephanie Lake was going to personally coordinate the production by Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts students.

Not yet crossed out are four exciting theater productions: “Yat-sen,” “We Are Gay,” “Miss Julie” and “Love Streams.”

“For the other programs scheduled for the latter half of this year’s festival period, we are awaiting further official announcement from the government in order to decide on our next course of action,” said Valentina Wong, marketing manager of the festival.

The festival’s online programing remains intact. A free online performance of “Romeo and Juliet” by the Paris Opera Ballet has now replaced the Hong Kong Philharmonic concert as the festival opener at 8 p.m. Feb. 25. It will be available online until March 4.

(SD-Agencies)

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