Norway's Jo Strømgren Kompani and the Netherlands' Ulrike Quade Company will stage an interdisciplinary performance co-production of "Coco Chanel" in October.
Coco Chanel was an icon of fashion. Through her bold designs, she helped liberate women from the corset. The interdisciplinary performance "Coco Chanel" features a wide variety of puppets, absurdist methods of puppetry and a great dash of wild imaginative theatre. The performance tells the eventful life of Coco Chanel who, from her upbringing in an orphanage would rise to the ranks of France's high society. Today, her name remains a symbol of equality and freedom for modern women.
The Jo Strømgren Kompani (JSK) was founded in 1998 and, from its base in Norway, has grown to become one of Scandinavia's most successful independent theatre groups. JSK's style is characterised by a peculiar mix of dance and theatre, with a distinct and often very physical humour combined with darker, political undertones. Another of its trademarks is an extensive use of nonsensical language and, in recent years, a playful use of the voiceover.
The Ulrike Quade Company was founded by Ulrike Quade in 1999 and is based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It is a theatre company that combines highly visual sculpture and dance, mime and performance as well as language and music. Ulrike Quade is one of the Netherland's most outstanding visual theatre practitioners. Her productions speak directly to audiences through their intensity and openness, and in the surprising way that objects and subjects come to life.
"Coco Chanel" by the Jo Strømgren Kompani and Ulrike Quade Company is part of the "Beyond Multi-arts" Series presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. It will be staged at 8pm on October 4 and 5 (Friday and Saturday) as well as at 3pm on October 5 to 6 (Saturday and Sunday) at the Studio Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Tickets priced at $200 and $280 are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk). For telephone credit card bookings, please call 2111 5999. For programme enquiries and various discount schemes of the "Beyond Multi-arts" Series, please call 2268 7323 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/multi_arts/programs_827.html.
A pre-performance talk (in Cantonese) and a meet-the-artist session (in English) will be held. The pre-performance talk "Puppeting Coco Chanel: Crossover of the Art of Puppetry and a Fashion Icon" will take place at 3pm on September 28 (Saturday) at the Hong Kong Eslite Causeway Bay Store and will be hosted by the General Manager of the International Association of Theatre Critics (Hong Kong), Bernice Chan. The speakers will include PhD in Languages, Literature and Societies, Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO), Paris, Sonia Au; Founder and Artistic Director of the Rolling Puppet Alternative Theatre, Macao, Lam Teng Teng; and Founder of the Rolling Puppet Alternative Theatre, Macao, Kevin Chio. Admission is free with limited seats available on a first-come, first-served basis. A meet-the-artist session will be held after the performance on October 4 (Friday). Admission is free. Members of the audience are welcome to stay behind for the session.
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