The International Arts Carnival (IAC), a summer arts festival organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, will present an interactive music theatre production, "Dǎ Ji�n Ninja: Finding Dreams", from August 2 to 4. Produced by local percussionist Anna Fan, who will perform together with percussion group dǎ jiān, the programme melds live music and original songs with drama and dance. It is most suitable for family audiences who can learn more about the cultures of Chinese and Western music through trying out different kinds of percussion instruments.
Filled with drum beats and laughter, the production guides audiences to know more about musical instruments such as the Chinese drum, Brazilian parade drum and glockenspiel, to sample for themselves the immense power of percussion music.
At the core of the play is a group of dǎ ji�n ninjas living on the sea. These cheery ninjas are not just good at drumming but have hidden skills lying in their superpower: using percussion to concoct a dream essence. A catastrophe has robbed people of their ability to dream when they sleep. To pull them out of the blues, dǎ ji�n ninjas call on children and adults alike to embark on a sea adventure. Together they learn various percussion instruments so that everyone can have great dreams again.
Programme Producer Anna Fan, a local percussionist, drummer, arranger and composer, graduated from the Music Department of Hong Kong Baptist University in percussion and studied jazz drumming at the Berklee College of Music in the United States. Fan is currently the creative director, band leader and lead singer with percussion groups dǎ ji�n and FANtastic Line. Keen to promote boundary-pushing percussion and jazz culture, Fan has founded PE LAB, a collective that creates chiefly for percussion groups' original work that fuses pop, jazz and Broadway musical songs. Fan is also a drummer for local band m.a.R.K, making frequent appearances at music festivals at home and abroad.
Interactive music theatre production "Dǎ Ji�n Ninja: Finding Dreams" will be staged at 7.30pm on August 2 and 3, and 3pm on August 3 and 4 at the Sheung Wan Civic Centre Theatre. The programme will be performed in Cantonese with limited lyrics in English. It also contains strobe lighting and loud sound effects. Tickets priced at $160, $240 and $300 (half-price tickets for children) are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk). For telephone bookings, please call 3166 1288, or use the mobile ticketing app "URBTIX". For programme enquiries and concessionary schemes, please call 2370 1044 or visit www.hkiac.gov.hk.
Each performance will be followed by a meet-the-artist session.
This year's IAC is running from July 5 to August 11, featuring a wide array of fun-filled educational programmes by overseas, Mainland and local art groups and artists. In addition to acrobatics, magic, dance, music, theatre and puppetry, the IAC also offers film screenings, online programmes, parent-child workshops and an exhibition.
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