Hong Kong Dance Company's large-scale dance drama "The Martial Arts of Life"

• 2026 Greater Bay Area Dance Arts Season Presented with the commitment of HSBC Life Hong Kong Dance Company Large-Scale Dance Drama “Martial Arts” – Bruce Lee’s Form and Infinity
• "In fact, while martial arts and philosophy may seem opposed, I believe that the boundaries between the theory of Chinese martial arts and philosophy have become blurred... I hope to integrate the spirit of philosophy into martial arts, which is why I persist in studying philosophy." -- Bruce Lee, "Artist of Life"
• Crafted with care by the Hong Kong Dance Company, paying tribute to the legendary martial arts master Bruce Lee! Professional dancers with years of deep cultivation in martial arts training will use bodily language that combines firmness and gentleness, accompanied by a live jazz band performance, to interpret Bruce Lee’s martial arts philosophy and artistic charm.
• Premiered at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Grand Theatre last year, and toured the Shanghai International Dance Center Grand Theatre last month, attracting nearly 10,000 audience members and receiving widespread acclaim!

[Recommendation Reasons] Gathering local Hong Kong artistic elites Featuring an all-star creative lineup consisting of Artistic Director Yang Yuntao, Hong Kong Film Award Best Art Director Man Lim-chung, and renowned jazz composer Curtis Lee A cross-over innovation blending martial arts and dance, multimedia stage art, and jazz elements Showcasing the unique charm of Hong Kong where Chinese and Western cultures converge Inheriting and promoting Bruce Lee’s martial arts spirit

• Established in 1981, the Hong Kong Dance Company is one of Hong Kong's most representative professional dance artistic groups. For over forty years, the company has remained rooted in Chinese culture, continuously exploring the dialogue between tradition and the contemporary. From the adapted classic film "A Chinese Ghost Story" to the Hong Kong comic-inspired "The Storm Riders"; from reproducing the divine charm of calligraphy in "Lanting Xuxu" to exploring the integration of martial arts and dance in "Shan Shui", successive works have continuously broken through the creative boundaries of traditional dance, gradually forming an artistic style that possesses both Hong Kong cultural characteristics and an international vision. Born on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the Hong Kong Dance Company, "Martial Arts" continues this creative lineage. Inspired by Bruce Lee's martial arts philosophy, the work uses dance to rethink the relationship between "martial arts (Wu)" and "the way (Dao)", power and freedom, tradition and the contemporary, allowing martial arts and dance to meet within the same body.
• Hong Kong Dance Company Artistic Director Yang Yuntao spent years conceptualizing “Martial Arts”, deeply influenced by Bruce Lee’s view that “martial arts is the best way to understand oneself.” Therefore, he led the dancers in continuous martial arts training, internalizing martial arts concepts such as Wing Chun and Jeet Kune Do into physical language, making “martial arts and dance as one” a genuine expression happening within the dancers. Art direction and costume design are crafted by Hong Kong Film Award Best Art Director Man Lim-chung. He brings the spatial narrative of film and Bruce Lee’s philosophical core of “be water, having no form, taking no form as form, taking infinity as finitude” into the theater: flowing ink washes, multimedia calligraphy special effects, and intertwined lights and shadows construct a stage landscape of profound Eastern artistic conception, making the audience feel as if they are immersed in a flowing film. Music is composed by Hong Kong jazz pianist and film score composer Curtis Lee. Traditional drum beats, electronic sounds, and jazz idioms intertwine, building the physical rhythm of “Martial Arts” together with the dancers’ breathing, force generation, and tempo. Beyond music that fits the story, plot, and characters, Curtis Lee also improvises based on the live atmosphere, much like Jeet Kune Do which is not restricted by established moves. [Director Profile]
• Yang Yuntao, Artistic Director of Hong Kong Dance Company
• Yang Yuntao graduated from the Dance Department of the Central University for Nationalities (now Minzu University of China), and has successively joined the Guangdong Modern Dance Company, Beijing Modern Dance Company, and City Contemporary Dance Company. He joined the Hong Kong Dance Company as a principal dancer in 2002, became assistant artistic director in 2007, and assumed the role of artistic director in 2013.
• Yang has choreographed and created numerous works for the Hong Kong Dance Company, including "Lanting Xuxu" (awarded "Most Commendable Dance Production" at the 2013 Hong Kong Dance Awards; toured Beijing and Taipei in 2013), "Mulan" (awarded "Most Commendable Dance Production" and "Most Commendable Ensemble Dance Performance" at the 2014 Hong Kong Dance Awards, toured New York, Sydney, London, and Minsk in 2015, 2017, and 2019 respectively), "The Storm Riders" (winner of three 2015 Hong Kong Dance Awards), "The Butterfly Lovers: Legend" (performed in Seoul in 2016), "A Chinese Ghost Story" (winner of three 2016 Hong Kong Dance Awards, toured Beijing and Guangzhou in 2017, Taipei in 2018, and Shanghai and Hangzhou in 2019), "The Legend of Zhang Yueran" (awarded "Outstanding Medium-Scale Venue Dance Production" at the 2019 Hong Kong Dance Awards), and "Consonance" (awarded "Outstanding Online Production" at the 2022 Hong Kong Dance Awards, with the excerpt "Listening to the Pine Wind in Silence" winning the Contemporary Dance Award at the 13th China Dance "Lotus Awards", a national dance review award, in 2023). Other works include "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "In That Distant Place", "Red Rooms" (Part: "White"), "Chinese Hero", "Contemplation" (Part: "Original Intention"), "White Snake", "String Dance", "Shan Shui", and "Nezha: The One Man Show", while also leading a three-year "Interactive Research and Achievement Presentation Project on Chinese Dance and Chinese Martial Arts".
• Yang was twice awarded the Hong Kong Dance Award in 2003 and 2006, and received the “Artist of the Year (Dance)” award at the 2009 Hong Kong Arts Development Awards presented by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. In 2023, he was awarded the Medal of Honour by the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in recognition of his many contributions to dance creation, the promotion of Chinese dance, and the cultivation of dance talent over the years. [Hong Kong Dance Company]
• "Integrating East and West, Dancing Hong Kong"
• Mission Statement
• We draw nourishment from excellent Chinese cultural traditions, combine it with contemporary artistic creativity, and move the world with Chinese dance possessing Hong Kong characteristics.
• Established in 1981, the Hong Kong Dance Company is committed to promoting Chinese dance with contemporary artistic creativity and Hong Kong characteristics. Over the years, it has staged over three hundred popular and critically acclaimed works, with renowned dance productions including: "Mulan", "Dust to Dust", "Lanting Xuxu", "The Butterfly Lovers: Legend", "The Storm Riders", "A Chinese Ghost Story", "Tading Xing", "Red Rooms", "Chinese Hero", "Contemplation", "White Snake", "Chronicles of Three Cities", "The Legend of Zhang Yueran", "Liu Sanjie", "Poems of the Silk Road", "String Dance", "South of the Ocean", "Mazu", "Green Snake", "Jiuge", "Nezha: The One Man Show", "Fair Maidens", "Twenty-Four Solar Terms", and "Pure Clear Weather and Falling Snow".
• The company is dedicated to cross-disciplinary creation. Since 2018, it has deeply studied the fusion of Chinese dance and Chinese martial arts, with original new initiatives including: the large-scale dance poem "Shan Shui"; "Martial Arts", "Lanling Enters the Battle", and "Listening to the Pine Wind in Silence" which were selected for the China National Arts Fund; "Listening to the Pine Wind in Silence" was further recognized with the Contemporary Dance Award at the 13th China Dance "Lotus Awards", a national dance review award, in 2023; in addition, "Art Tech - Hong Kong Comic Martial Arts Dance Drama 'The Storm Riders: Infinity Realm'" was selected for the Hong Kong Government's Signature Performing Arts Projects Scheme.
• The company possesses extensive international networks, having performed in over ten countries and regions including the United States, Europe, South Korea, Thailand, Japan, and mainland China to promote cultural exchange. In recent years, it has traveled to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., USA, the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York, USA, the Southbank Centre in London, UK, the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto, Canada, the Chatswood Concourse Concert Hall in Sydney, Australia, the Seymour Centre in Sydney, Australia, the National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theatre of the Republic of Belarus in Minsk, the Arko Arts Theater in Seoul, South Korea, the Aksra Theatre in Bangkok, Thailand, Tokyo FM Hall in Tokyo, Japan, the Ishikawa Ongakudo in Kanazawa, Japan, One Theatre Hall in Penang, Malaysia, the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Center, Shanghai Grand Theatre, Shanghai International Dance Center, Hangzhou Grand Theatre, Guangzhou Opera House, Suzhou Kaiming Grand Theatre, Xinjiang Art Theatre, New Stage in Taipei, and the Taiwan Traditional Theatre Center, performing award-winning original dance dramas of the company such as "Mulan", "A Chinese Ghost Story", "The Butterfly Lovers: Legend", "Lanting Xuxu", and "Consonance", bringing new cultural and artistic experiences to audiences both at home and abroad.
• The Hong Kong Dance Company is a government-subsidized major performing arts group and has been a charitable and non-profit organization since 2001.