Living Up/噏 to Death
14.1.2024 [Sun] 5pm
15.1.2024 [Mon] 8pm
18.1.2024 [Thu] 8pm*
19.1.2024 [Fri] 8pm
20.1.2024 [Sat] 3pm*, 8pm
21.1.2024 [Sun] 3pm
The Box, Freespace, West Kowloon Cultural District
$320
*With post-performance meet-the-artist session
TRAIN THE SOUL, CONVERSE WITH THE ERA,
TO ESTABLISH A TRANQUIL ABODE FOR THE CONTEMPORARY BODY
Enter into a realm without words, through a boundary-breaking ritual. Let your consciousness travel amid darkness and light, in search of a peace between ecstasy and sorrow.
Multidisciplinary director and choreographer Ivanhoe Lam and the creative team blend dance, installations, text, videos, and electronic music, turning the theatre space at The Box into an unorthodox laboratory.
Audiences are invited into a psychological experiment of separating the body and soul apart, to explore the notion of ‘living’ in the ‘post-truth’ era and experience an unknown rebirth.
We will all be indispensable participants playing out an etude facing death.
Living Up/噏 to Death, which concludes the dance season, marks the final stop of the ‘It’s Summer!’ journey. It is also a portal that unlocks each audience’s imagination of their future life journey.
Learn to say goodbye, at The Box in January 2024.
Special Path of Entering the Laboratory
Stage photos
Audience Feedbacks
“A bold experimental theatre bringing creative ways to experience the transcendence of death.”
—Lyman Heung, Awarded Artist
“The ability to laugh is truly important. Love the music by hirsk and movement.”
—Gigi Cheung, Singer
“Unforgettable! Enjoy the interactive show! Prepare to be captivated by the most intriguing dance theatre experience ever. Explore the profound theme of death through the mesmerizing art of dance.”
—Dr. Daren Leung, Research Assistant Professor of Lingnan University
“It is a perfectly executed extravaganza of –
Elegant yet brutal dances with metaphors;
Multi-content texts – both poetic and satire;
Pop queens of exaggerated emotions and styles;
Cabaret- and cat walk-like sensations;
Real time imagery soon disappearing into trapped patterns or melancholic fade outs; and
sensational oldies and metallic beats….
A crazy contemporary dance opera that is actually full of anger and extremity echoing the desperation of living dangerously now……
Much worth attending.”
—May Fung, Visual Artist
“Sometimes, very rarely, there’s a show that makes me want to dance again. Really happy face because life is good and there is good art, and good humans, and opportunities to explore the world, and feel, and tell stories.”
—Sarah Knox, Dance Scholar and Assistant Professor of University of California San Francisco
“The whole scenography and musicality is closely knitted to the theme of life and death. It zooms into the peculiarity of death while at the same time makes us destached to the absurdity of life.”
“I saw a touch on materiality; a dialogue between old vs young, masculinity vs femininity, ill vs healthy; a trans-cultural provocation demonstrating timeless. An overall interesting experiment.”
“Very creative & bought me into thought, touched me when reading the letter.”
“Such an amazing job to have dance, music, light, words / poetry all flow together (especially with English & Chinese no easy feat). For me the peak of the show was the Prince / Sinead O’Connor Nothing Compares to you section, it struck a chord and brought me to tears, well done team!”
“The design for immersive experiences and videos are impressive and inspiring. The contents perceived correlating to the theme could be personal to audiences, therefore many interpretations could be derived from the perception.”
Choreography and Direction
Ivanhoe LAM
Music
hirsk (aka Khris NUNG)
Creative Text
Santayana LI
Dramaturgy
Alysa LEUNG
Video Design
Dan FONG^
Cinematography
Ziv CHUN
Set Design
Jan WONG
Image Design
Kary KWOK
Sound Design
Candog HA
Lighting Design
Lawmanray
Assistant Choreography
LIM Wei-wei
Rehearsal Mistress
Creation and Performance
Suyi HON, Felix KE, Eric KWONG, Melissa LEUNG, Genie LOK, Yuri NG, QIAO Yang, SHUM Pui-yung, Nini WANG, Brian YAM, Skye YAO, Simpson YAU, Tally ZHUANG
^With support and kind permission of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
Extended Activity
Living Up from HER to DEATH – screening and sharing session
City Contemporary Dance Company, in collaboration with The Mills, will host a pre-performance screening and sharing event. The event includes a screening of Ivanhoe’s previous work, Living Up to HER, followed by sharing sessions with two performers, Chester Wong and Melissa Leung, as well as creative team Santayana Li and Ivanhoe. They will share their perspectives on “Living Up” with the audience.
Living Up to HER was filmed inside The Mills. Through the camera, audiences can follow the performers’ footsteps through the various locations within the venue, including the staircase, coffee shop, yarn store, and dessert shop. With film, music, and dance, the audience experiences a meticulously curated farewell ritual. On the other hand, Living Up/噏 to Death is an experimental theatre, which the creative team blend dance, installations, text, videos, turning the theatre space at The Box into an unorthodox laboratory. Audiences are invited to experience an unknown rebirth.
Come and join the screening of art and explore the philosophy of life and death. Accompanied by a cup of coffee or a cocktail, or even a dinner, we look forward to meeting, exchanging ideas, and exploring together and seeking different possibilities in contemporary art with you in this journey.
Guests: Chester WONG, Melissa LEUNG, Santayana LI
Respondent: Ivanhoe Lam (Director)
Date and Time: 3.1.2024 20:15
Venue: KOKO Coffee Roasters (Shop G09, G/F, CHAT, The Mills, 45 Pak Tin Par Street, Tsuen Wan)
Ticketing: $80 (Each ticket include 1 drink: Coffee / Non-Alcohol drink / Cocktail)
Co-presented by
Living Up To HER is part of the JOCKEY CLUB New Arts Power 2019 – ARTWALK X THE MILLS, presented by Hong Kong Arts Development Council
Artist sharing
Discount Schemes
Club Bravo Members of Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
Chung Ying Theatre’s Energy Fun Club Plus
Friends of HK Ballet
Students of Year 22/23 Hong Kong Ballet Classical Ballet Training Programme
Friends of HK Chinese Orchestra
Friends of HK Dance Company(Classic + Prestige)
Friends of POP Theatre
Friends of HKREP Pals
Zuni Friends
Hong Kong Dance Alliance
E-newsletter subscribers of Yat Po Singers
MOViE MOViE Members
HKTDC DG Club Members
HKIFF Cineclub
Hong Kong Arts Administrators’ Association
Holders of CCDC Dance Centre ‘Dance Card’
Holders of CCDC Dance Centre ‘Kids Card’
Members of HKAPA Alumni Association
Members of The Federation of Hong Kong Polytechnic University Alumni Associations
Members of RTHK Programme Staff Union
Holders of CCDC ‘Dance Inspirations’ Card
Full-time Students
Senior Citizens Aged 60 or Above
People with Disabilities & the Minder
Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Recipients
Approximately 90 minutes.
Presented in Cantonese and Putonghua with English surtitles.
Latecomers or re-admission audiences will not be admitted until a suitable break of the performance.
The audience will be shot with a live feed video during admission. If you do not wish to have your video taken, please inform staff before admission.
The video shooting will only be used for this performance.
CCDC reserves the right to substitute artists and vary advertised programmes.
Rehearsal photos
Research Partner
Media Partner
Performance Costume Sponsor
Performance Make-up Sponsor
Key Visual Outfits Sponsor
