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Kylie Knott

Taylor Swift is never far from the media spotlight as the US pop star continues her world tour that kicked off in March 2023 and ends in December this year.
The Eras Tour has sent Swifties – the term for her huge army of followers – into hysterics at stadiums from Melbourne to Madrid. Sadly, not in Hong Kong: Japan and Singapore were the only Asian countries included in the tour.
Fans with lingering disappointment can “Shake It Off” at a “Swifties Dance Workshop” at Hong Kong’s Fringe Club on July 20, where local dance and yoga teacher Desiree Hay will share choreography inspired by the star’s iconic tunes.
The workshop is part of the inaugural FringeYouth Festival at The Fringe Club in Central from July 16-21, the first time the heritage arts venue has hosted a youth-driven arts and culture festival.

It boasts an impressive programme, from theatre, dance and puppetry to music, visual arts, crafts, storytelling and creative writing.
“It’s a vibrant programme that celebrates the creativity and talent of young artists by giving them a platform for their voices to be heard – and a place where friendships can be formed,” says festival co-organiser Wendy Wu, whose arts education company, Creative Collab, is holding musical theatre workshops as part of the programme.
Targeting audiences up to age 25, the festival has something for everyone, Wu says.
Harbour Secrets, a Hong Kong-based murder-mystery specialist, has aspiring sleuths covered with “Much Ado About Murder”, a “whodunnit” that starts with the discovery of an unknown Shakespearean work and ends in a killing.
For the younger crowd, Harbour Secrets has joined creative forces with edutainment company FezEd to host a detective mystery loosely based on a real event: the theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre Museum in Paris, on August 21, 1911.
Vincenzo Peruggia, a museum employee, stole the famous Leonardo da Vinci painting in one of the most brazen heists in art history. It was recovered two years later when Peruggia tried to sell it to an antiques dealer in Florence.
“The game takes place 100 years ago and is set in Paris, but we’re not repeating the whole story of the theft – we have just been inspired by it,” says Harbour Secrets’ Polina D’Aguiar.
“Kids become investigators who interrogate suspects, solve puzzles and find evidence in order to catch the criminal and save the masterpiece. Essentially they will be living their Sherlock Holmes dream.”

The festival is about more than just fun. “These interactive and immersive games keep kids’ attention and help nurture critical thinking, communication and creativity,” D’Aguiar says.
“It is not a passive experience but a performance where they are actively shaping the story, they are the moving elements … this is important.”
Budding writers can learn about the art of storytelling through workshops hosted by Hong Kong author Ritu Hemnani. In one, “Verse and Voice: Empowering the Written Word”, Hemnani will use her recently released novel, Lion of the Sky, as the basis for a discussion on how language evokes emotions.
“Verse and Voice is about empowering kids to speak from their own memories and their own worlds,” Hemnani says. “When stories are shared, it fosters imagination and bridges connections.”

Six Cat Studios, an arts studio with music and media at its core, will host interactive sessions where participants not only write and illustrate their own stories but get a glimpse into the publishing process.
BallroomBees, founded by Katya Virshilas – a champion dancer who high-stepped her way into people’s living rooms in 2009 with an appearance on the TV reality show Strictly Come Dancing – will host classes for lovers of ballroom.
Drummer Satur Tiamson will share secrets on how to master the sticks, while music education company YRock will give lessons for guitar, drums and bass. Armed with their new skills, participants then get to rock out live on stage.
On the classical front, singer Kari Ding will deliver a deeply personal performance including operas by Mozart and Massenet. It will not be just a showcase of his voice but his journey as a countertenor, a male singer who uses a falsetto voice to sing high notes like a female contralto or mezzo-soprano. It is considered the rarest of all voice types.
Other workshops will focus on activities from crocheting to DJing.












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Yogis, too, are looked after. As well as dance classes, Hay will host Animal Yoga workshops where participants learn asanas (yoga poses) inspired by the animal kingdom.
“The sequence is designed to improve strength, flexibility and mindfulness while allowing participants to express themselves through their favourite animals,” she says.
Wu says it is exciting to be part of the first festival that will, in the long term, benefit the city’s arts scene.
“It is all about inspiring and empowering the next generation of artists.”
Larry Lai, general manager of The Fringe Club says: “The Fringe Club incubates community arts in Hong Kong, and supporting youth arts goes a long way to providing the right start for budding artists and performers.”
For details visit the FringeYouth Festival’s website.


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Performing arts in Hong Kong

Learn Taylor Swift’s dance moves, take DJing lessons and much more at FringeYouth Festival

The FringeYouth Festival will include a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop. Photo: DPA

The FringeYouth Festival will include a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop, DJing and music lessons, a murder mystery event, and much more. Photo: DPA

Arts education company Creative Collab will host an immersive musical theatre workshop. Photo: FringeYouth Festival

Hong Kong-based murder-mystery specialist Harbour Secrets will host a murder mystery event as part of the FringeYouth Festival. Photo: Harbour Secrets

Hong Kong author Ritu Hemnani will talk at the FringeYouth Festival. Photo: Ritu Hemnani

How to put Hong Kong on global cultural map and drive arts tourism: star cellist’s tips

Cellist Trey Lee performs with the Camerata Salzburg orchestra during the 2023 edition of Musicus Fest. Photo: Musicus Society

Star cellist Trey Lee, co-founder of Hong Kong’s Musicus Society, gives his tips on how to make the city stand out on the global cultural map and drive tourism through the arts. Photo: Musicus Society

Lee performs with the Camerata Salzburg orchestra during the 2023 edition of Musicus Fest, an annual festival organised by Musicus Society, in Hong Kong. Photo: Musicus Society

Lee (third right) performs with Musicus Soloists Hong Kong at the House of Music Hungary in Budapest, Hungary, in June 2024. Photo: Musicus Society

Lee’s latest album, Seasons Interrupted, addresses the climate crisis through rearrangements of season-themed works originally by Franz Schubert and Astor Piazzolla. Photo: Musicus Society

Tarmo Peltokoski, 24, named as HK Phil’s next music director. Why he ‘couldn’t say no’

Finnish conductor Tarmo Peltokoski is the new HK Phil music director. Photo: Keith Hiro/HK Phil

Finnish conductor Tarmo Peltokoski, 24, has been named as the ninth music director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, beginining in 2026. It was an appointment he could not refuse, he tells the Post. Photo: Keith Hiro/HK Phil

Finnish conductor Tarmo Peltokoski, born in 2000, will be the ninth music director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra when he takes up the post in 2026. Photo: Keith Hiro/HK Phil

Soloists and conductor Jaap van Zweden with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus and the Netherlands Radio Choir after a performance of Wagner in June, 2024. Photo: Desmond Chan/HK Phil

Jaap van Zweden during his final interview as music director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. Photo: Keith Hiro/HK Phi)

At 24, Tarmo Peltokoski is part of a wave of young conductors picked to lead orchestras. Among them, fellow Finn Klaus Mäkelä, 28, will become music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2025. Photo: Keith Hiro/HK Phil

Peltokoski (left) and David Cogman, chairman of the board of the HK Phil, sign the contract that makes Peltokoski music director designate. Photo: Enid Tsui

From the Pope to Macron, world leaders’ apologies compiled for artist’s Hong Kong show

Pope Francis apologising for sexual abuse by Catholic Church figures of authority, as shown in James T. Hong’s video compilation of world leaders saying sorry, Apologies, now showing in Hong Kong. Photo: Edmond So

James T. Hong at Empty Gallery in Hong Kong, where he is showing his solo exhibition. Photo: Mabel Lui

Hong’s video piece Apologies runs for seven hours and seven minutes. Photo: Edmond So

Hong doesn’t think much of the apologies his exhibition showcases; he believes they’re mostly hollow rhetoric from politicians seeking to gain political capital. Photo: Edmond So

One of the four sculptures in Hong’s “Stabbed in the Back” series on show at his Hong Kong exhibition. Photo: Mabel Lui

Lifestyle

Arts & Culture

From July 16-21, the youth-driven arts and culture festival at Hong Kong’s Fringe Club will see activities from theatre and dance to writing


Taking place from July 16-21, the youth-driven arts and culture festival FringeYouth will include a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop, DJing and music lessons, a murder mystery event, and much more.
