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Natasha Rogai

Beyond Dance Theater (BDT), founded in 2017 by dancer/choreographer Kelvin Mak Cheuk-hung, has established itself as Hong Kong’s most consistently innovative and exciting contemporary dance company under his leadership.
Its latest production, The Night Before Tempest, is not one of BDT’s most successful works but has many fine moments.
Described as a piece of collaborative “devising theatre”, it epitomises the company’s admirably eclectic style and the passion with which it imbues every performance.
Created by Mak as choreographer and Chow Wai-chuen as director, the production shows Mak’s exceptional gift for group sequences, which were riveting in their originality; his musicality; and his ability to generate emotional power and theatrical effects.
Among many stunning images was the moment when several dancers entwine their bodies together to form a tree-like structure, with hands sticking out.
The ending, with the dancers sinking down behind a row of chairs as if vanishing into the ground, was also striking.

A duet for two men – another of Mak’s strengths – set a portrayal of violence to gentle piano music, creating an extraordinary and surreal effect.
Supposedly inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest, The Night Before Tempest offered much to enjoy in terms of dance, but was less successful dramatically.
Poon Chun-ho, as a figure who may or may not be Prospero, has some tender moments with someone who may or may not be his daughter Miranda, and a powerful duet with another commanding male figure who may or may not be his treacherous brother Antonio.

However, the relationship of the piece to the play was tenuous and as a whole the work failed to gel, with individual scenes stopping and starting rather than flowing coherently.
Poon intersperses dancing with reciting several texts, none of which was taken from The Tempest or indeed from Shakespeare and which presented a confusing range of themes.
Dylan Thomas’ Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night is a rage against death; T.S. Eliot’s The Hollow Men is a bleak lament about spiritual apathy; The Bible verse Corinthians 13 extols the power of love; and the deranged Colonel Kurtz’s monologue from Apocalypse Now is, well, deranged, although it does relate to Eliot’s poem, which is famously prefaced by the line “Mistah Kurtz – he dead”.

The dancing by the entire cast of eight was outstanding. One of the things that characterises BDT is the ability to bring together a diverse group of performers as a supremely effective ensemble while giving them all a chance to shine individually.
Poon was also deputy choreographer and rehearsal director and was apparently injured, although you wouldn’t have known it from his dancing.
The designs by regular BDT collaborators Mathieu Chu Siu-ming, in charge of sets and props, and costume designer Jeff Mui worked well, as did the atmospheric lighting design by Ting Leung-sun and Cheng Pui-man and Allison Fong’s sound design.
“The Night Before Tempest”, Beyond Dace Theater, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Studio Theatre. Reviewed: January 25 matinee.


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Beyond Dance Theater’s riff on Shakespeare’s The Tempest has some stunning moments

A scene from Beyond Dance Theater’s The Night Before Tempest at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, which features brilliantly original dance but whose narrative is incoherent. Photo: BDT

A scene from Beyond Dance Theater’s The Night Before Tempest. Photo: BDT

A scene from Beyond Dance Theater’s The Night Before Tempest, supposedly inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Photo: BDT

Poon Chun-ho, deputy choreographer, is one of eight dancers in Beyond Dance Theater’s The Night Before Tempest. Photo: BDT

Lifestyle

Arts

Kelvin Mak’s brilliantly original choreography illuminates The Night Before Tempest, but the narrative could flow better


Kelvin Mak’s brilliantly original choreography illuminates The Night Before Tempest, but the narrative could flow better.


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Review

Review | Beyond Dance Theater’s riff on Shakespeare’s The Tempest has some stunning moments

Kelvin Mak’s brilliantly original choreography illuminates The Night Before Tempest, but the narrative could flow better