The opening ceremony of the 26th Macao Arts Festival (MAF), organised by the Cultural Affairs Bureau, was inaugurated on 1 May at the lobby of the Macao Cultural Centre. Kicking off this year’s Festival was the Asian premiere of Lied Ballet by the Centre choreógraphique national de Tours – Direction Thomas Lebrun, from France. On the opening night, the choreographer of Lied Ballet Thomas Lebrun danced with the public after the show at the Solo What You Want? and Bal party, receiving enthusiastic response, thereby adding fun and joy to the opening of the Festival.
Present at the opening ceremony were Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macao S.A.R. Government, Alexis, Tam Chon Weng; Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the Macao S.A.R., Hu Zhengyue; Director-General of the Department of Education and Culture of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macao S.A.R., Xu Ting; President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Ung Vai Meng; Director of the Tourist Office, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes; Representative of President and Member of the Executive Committee of TDM, John Lai; Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of MGM China Holdings Limited, Grant Bowie; Vice President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Leung Hio Ming; Choreographer of Opening Show - Lied Ballet, Thomas Lebrun.
As an important cultural event in the territory and within the region, the MAF’s concept is to “lead aesthetic appreciation and promote the development of local arts”, continuing to introduce a variety of avant-garde works, aiming at challenging the customs of aesthetic appreciation as well as broadening its artistic horizons of the public. The Festival, by supporting and promoting the development of local productions, has succeeded in establishing a solid and broad exchange and showcase platform, allowing local artists to fully display their talent and disseminating a strong local arts atmosphere to the public.
The opening show will be followed by numerous popular shows. A wooden robotic puppet is created for the artificial ecological theatre in the family performance Savanna – A Possible Landscape, which explores the relationship among technology, human beings and nature with the audience. The Soda-City Experimental Workshop Arts Association will stage Memory Blueprint II, which, through various dance forms, music and visual effects, reflects the concern and expectation towards the city development in Macao. The Macao Kaifong Cantonese Opera Juvenile Troupe will stage Bound-feet Liu Jinding Crashes Four Gates, which recounts the arduous journey of Zhao Kuangyin, the founder of China’s Song dynasty. Performed by the students, this performance provides opportunities for them to gain stage experience. Protean Cities, staged by Dirks Theatre Arts Association, recounts a very personal life experience through the creation of a sense of empathy and affinity in the audience while portraying the many facets of urban life. Staged by Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, The Suit describes how the husband decides to punish his wayward wife with an unconventional method in order to bring out the bigger motif in the background: humiliation and honour.
Tickets of the Festival are sold with enthusiastic response with only limited tickets available for sale for certain shows. More Festival programme information is available at www.icm.gov.mo/fam and ticket reservations can be made through tel. no. 28555555.