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The New Vision Arts Festival has an excellent line-up this year, writes Clare Morin

Every two years something extraordinary occurs in Hong Kong. It’s known as the New Vision Arts Festival and it is the most cutting edge festival we have. Created by a group of passionate individuals lurking within the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), this biannual boutique festival offers a world class line-up ranging from the eclectic to the downright astonishing.

“We decided we had to do something different from the normal mainstream arts festivals,” explains Elaine Yeung, Senior Manager for Festivals for the LCSD and the mastermind behind the programme. “We want to make a name for the LCSD’s festivals in the international arts scene.”

Yeung has been with the festival since it had an accidental birth in 2002. The year before, the LCSD had launched a festival of traditional Chinese performances called Legends of China, but they soon realised there were not enough works to sustain the festival every year. So they opted for a biannual plan instead, crafting the New Vision Arts Festival to fill the blanks. Ironically the Legends of China festival died away and the New Vision Arts Festival has been going from strength to strength. Their concept was to hurtle into the future with contemporary works with an Asian focus, and although mainstream audiences have been slow to accept the eclectic programming, the creative community has been thrilled to have some intelligent theatre, dance and music shows flown in to them.

This year’s festivities kick off on October 23 (we’re telling you about it now so that you can go out and reserve tickets before they all disappear) with an opening show by the highly acclaimed Nederlands Dance Theatre I. The contemporary dance troupe rarely agrees to creating commissioned work, yet it have done so for this year’s festival with the Asian premiere of Renature  from choreographer Wayne McGregor and Japanese composer Karen Tanaka. The show is a triple-bill with Shoot the Moon and Far and Feathers also showcased on the night.

The Contemporary Dance Theatre of Taiwan is another highlight, staging its spectacular adaptation of The Tempest in which Shakespeare meets Peking and Kunqu opera under the direction of Hong Kong movie director Tsui Hark. The founder of the company, acclaimed opera innovator Wu Hsing-kuo, performs the lead in this mesmerising mix of dazzling costumes and jaw-dropping stage sets.

Peking opera gets another wild interpretation in Liang Hongyu, performed by Beijing’s Li Liuyi New Theatre – founded by Li, who is one of China’s most innovative directors. This is the third part of a trilogy that has been co-commissioned by the Holland Festival and the New Vision Arts Festival (the first part was shown in the 2006 New Vision Arts Festival while the second part was staged earlier this year).

Yeung explains that the eclectic and diverse programming is a result of her team’s efforts in uncovering new talents. “We approach different artists and producers to exchange views and find programmes,” she explains. “Of all 12 programmes in New Vision, not a single one was from a proposal sent to us, it has all been created from our own searches.”

There is more extraordinary collaboration at work with Fantasy of the Red Guard, a chamber opera featuring Germany’s lauded Ensemble Modern, working with Beijing vocalist Liu Sola in musical theatre that merges traditional Chinese music with hip-hop, jazz and pop.

But not all the shows are big names. There are some interesting up-and-coming acts to check out, included Kisaeng Becomes You, in which Korean choreographer Kim Yoon-jin collaborates with American video artist Dean Moss in a multimedia show about the Korean kisaeng – courtesans who entertained officials, much like Japanese geishas.

The festival will close on an inspirational note. Hong Kong’s very own Theatre du Pif has been commissioned to create The Wall to Build a verbatim theatre play – or documentary drama – based on Hong Kong’s tendency to continually rip down heritage buildings. Working with British director Jan-Willem van den Bosch and video artist Burst TV, Theatre du Pif interviewed an entire cast of Hongkongers, from property tycoons to architects, construction workers and feng shui masters.

Kudos to Elaine Yeung and her team, for taking risks and bringing Hong Kong something to really get excited about. More info: www.newvisionfestival.gov.hk