Performance

China Merchants Foundation presents Grand Dance Poem "A Dance of Celestial Rhythms"

Returns in September and embarks on a debut tour to Korea

In Timeless Communion with Nature, We Dance

HKDance’s critically acclaimed, Grand Dance Poem A Dance of Celestial Rhythms, presented by China Merchants Foundation, is returning to the stage from 26-28 September 2025 at Auditorium, Kwai Tsing Theatre. This celebrated work opens the HKDance 2025/26 Dance Season as one of the featured programmes of the Chinese Culture Festival 2025. Following its premiere, the production garnered widespread praise and was honoured with two prestigious accolades at the 25th Hong Kong Dance Awards: “Outstanding Large Venue Production” and “Outstanding Ensemble Performance.”

Embarking on a debut tour to Korea

Following its revival in Hong Kong, HKDance is set to make its debut in Korea with this award-winning production. The performance will take place on October 18–19 at Hong Kong Week 2025@Seoul, bringing the timeless beauty of intangible cultural heritage to the Korean stage. Grand Dance Poem A Dance of Celestial Rhythms 2025, co-presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China and the National Gugak Center, will be performed in Seoul with the generous support of China Merchants Foundation as the Tour Sponsor.

Gathering artists from across Asia to create an aesthetic feast

“Centred around the rhythm of the “Twenty-Four Solar Terms”, the entire work subtly weaves poetic imagery with abstraction to portray the harmonious coexistence and ecological cycle of humanity and nature. This production captures the subtle transformations of the natural world and the flowing rhythm of life. It invites the audience to experience the quiet strength and serenity embedded within the changing seasons.” Associate Choreographer Xie Yin shares.

This cross-cultural production brings together creative forces from Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan, offering an artistic feast that blends traditional and contemporary aesthetics.

Korean artists contributing to the 2025 Seoul performance include lighting designer Ryou Baekhee, the project leader for lighting design for the Pyeongchang Paralympics Opening and Closing Ceremonies in 2018.
Ryou says, “Lighting and colour intertwine to trace the cyclical path of the twenty-four solar terms, capturing the subtle rhythms of seasonal change. Within the interplay of light and shadow, the dancers’ movements reflect and resonate with the natural world, like a celestial melody, graceful and enduring.” Music award winner at the Seoul Dance Festival, composer Kim Chulhwan, is delighted to present, “I attempt to express the changing of the seasons in a natural way through the strength of the music, using different lead instruments for each solar term. Nature will be expressed with traditional musical instruments, while the facade of humankind will be channelled through digital music.” Meanwhile, costume designer Min Chunhong, known for fusing traditional Korean elements with contemporary flair, and recipient of the Best Dance Costume Designer Award at the Dance Culture Forum, shares his insights into the prelude, “This scene portrays the mystery of birth, centred around the Earth Goddess as the embodiment of life-giving force. Her voluminous, flowing skirt symbolises the breath of the earth, still dormant beneath the frozen ground, quietly preparing for the arrival of new life.”

Artistic Director of HKDance, Yang Yuntao remarks: "The twenty-four solar terms, as a cultural theme rooted in human experience, embody profound natural wisdom and life philosophy. Through collaboration with artists from across Asian regions, this initiative not only extends and preserves the Chinese cultural tradition, but also brings forth diverse interpretations and innovations in the realm of art, ushering in a new chapter of cross-cultural exchange."