Het grootschalige dansdramastuk "Wudao" van het Hong Kong Dance Company

• 2026 Greater Bay Area Dance Art Season Metlife Insurance Proudly Presents Hong Kong Dance Company Large-Scale Dance Drama “Wudao: The Forms and Infinity of Bruce Lee”
• "In fact, although martial arts and philosophy may seem opposed at first glance, I believe that the boundaries between the theory of Chinese martial arts and philosophy have become blurred... I hope to integrate the philosophical spirit into martial arts, which is why I persist in studying philosophy." -- Bruce Lee, "Artist of Life"
• Carefully crafted by the Hong Kong Dance Company as a tribute to the martial arts master Bruce Lee! Professional dancers with years of intensive martial arts training will use a physical language that balances strength and flexibility, accompanied by a live jazz band, to interpret Bruce Lee’s martial arts philosophy and artistic charm.
• Premiered last year at the Grand Theatre of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, and toured last month at the Grand Theatre of the Shanghai International Dance Center, attracting nearly 10,000 audience members and receiving widespread acclaim!

[Recommended Reasons] Bring together local artistic elites of Hong Kong An all-star creative lineup led by Artistic Director Yeng Wing-tao, alongside Hong Kong Film Award Best Art Director William Chang, and renowned jazz composer The Abel Ray 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

• Founded in 1981, the Hong Kong Dance Company is one of Hong Kong's most representative professional dance art groups. For over forty years, the company has remained rooted in Chinese culture, continually exploring the dialogue between tradition and the contemporary. From adapting classic films like "A Chinese Ghost Story" to drawing inspiration from Hong Kong comics in "The Storm Riders"; from recreating the spiritual charm of calligraphy in "Lanting Tribute" to exploring the fusion 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 combines Hong Kong's cultural characteristics with an international perspective. "Wudao", born on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the Hong Kong Dance Company, continues this creative lineage. Inspired by Bruce Lee's martial arts philosophy, the work uses dance to rethink the relationships between "martial" (wu) and "tao" (way), strength and freedom, tradition and the contemporary, allowing martial arts and dance to meet within the same body.
• Yeng Wing-tao, Artistic Director of the Hong Kong Dance Company, spent years conceiving “Wudao”, deeply influenced by Bruce Lee’s view that “martial arts are the best way for us to understand ourselves.” Therefore, he leads dancers in continuous martial arts training, internalizing martial arts concepts such as Wing Chun and Jeet Kune Do into a physical language, making “martial arts and dance as one” a true expression happening within the dancers. Art direction and costume design are crafted by Hong Kong Film Award Best Art Director William Chang. He brings the spatial narrative of cinema and Bruce Lee’s philosophical core of “be water, my friend; having no form as form, having no limitation as limitation” into the theatre: flowing ink washes, multimedia calligraphy special effects, and intertwined layers of light and shadow construct a stage landscape of deep oriental artistic conception, making the audience feel as if they are inside a flowing film. Music is composed by Hong Kong jazz pianist and film scorer The Abel Ray. Traditional drumbeats, electronic sounds, and jazz idioms intertwine, building the physical rhythm of “Wudao” together with the dancers’ breathing, exertion, and tempo. In addition to music that matches the story, plot, and characters, The Abel Ray also performs some impromptu improvisations based on the live atmosphere, just like Jeet Kune Do which is not restricted by established moves. [Director Introduction]
• Yeng Wing-tao, Artistic Director of the Hong Kong Dance Company
• Yeng Wing-tao 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.
• Yeng has choreographed numerous works for the Hong Kong Dance Company, including "Lanting Tribute" (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 Performance" at the 2014 Hong Kong Dance Awards, toured New York, Sydney, London, and Minsk in 2015, 2017, and 2019 respectively), "The Storm Riders" (awarded three prizes at the 2015 Hong Kong Dance Awards), "The Butterfly Lovers Legend" (performed in Seoul in 2016), "A Chinese Ghost Story" (awarded three prizes at the 2016 Hong Kong Dance Awards, performed in Beijing and Guangzhou in 2017, Taipei in 2018, and Shanghai and Hangzhou in 2019), "The Legend of the Purple Hairpin" (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 Wind in the Pines" winning the national dance review award, the 13th China Dance "Lotus Award" for Contemporary Dance in 2023). Other works include "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "In That Distant Place", "Red Chamber - Three Dreams of Red Mansions" - "White", "Chinese Hero", "Qing Zai" - "Original Aspiration", "White Snake", "String Dance", "Shan Shui", and "Nezha: A Solo", among others. He also leads a three-year "Interactive Research and Outcome Presentation Project on Chinese Dance and Chinese Martial Arts".
• Yeng was twice awarded the Hong Kong Dance Award in 2003 and 2006, and received the “Artist of the Year (Dance)” award at the Hong Kong Arts Development Awards 2009 from 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]
• "Blending East and West, Dancing Hong Kong"
• Mission Statement
• We draw nourishment from excellent traditional Chinese culture, combine it with contemporary artistic creativity, and move the world through Chinese dance with 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 more than three hundred popular and critically acclaimed works. Celebrated dance pieces include: "Mulan", "Dust to Dust", "Lanting Tribute", "The Butterfly Lovers Legend", "The Storm Riders", "A Chinese Ghost Story", "Treading Wave", "Red Chamber - Three Dreams of Red Mansions", "Chinese Hero", "Qing Zai", "White Snake", "Tales of Three Cities", "The Legend of the Purple Hairpin", "Liu Sanjie", "Poetic Silk Road", "String Dance", "A Lifeline Across the Sea", "Mazu", "The Green Dress", "Nine Songs", "Nezha: A Solo", "Fair Maidens", "The Twenty-Four Solar Terms", and "Clear Snow on a Sunny Day".
• The company is dedicated to cross-disciplinary creation, deeply researching the integration of Chinese dance and Chinese martial arts since 2018. Original new ventures include: the large-scale dance poem "Shan Shui"; National Arts Fund selections "Wudao", "Lanling Enters Battle", and "Listening to the Wind in the Pines"; "Listening to the Wind in the Pines" was further recognized in 2023 by the national dance review award, the 13th China Dance "Lotus Award" for Contemporary Dance; in addition, "Art Tech - Hong Kong Comic Martial Arts Dance Drama 'The Storm Riders' Realm of Infinity" was selected for the Hong Kong Government's Key Performance Projects Scheme.
• The company possesses extensive international networks, having performed in over a dozen countries and regions including the United States, Europe, South Korea, Thailand, Japan, and Mainland China to promote cultural exchange. In recent years, it has toured to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, 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 Concourse Theatre in Chatswood, Sydney, Australia, the Seymour Centre in Sydney, Australia, the National Academic Musical Theatre 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 Prefectural Music Hall in Kanazawa, Japan, One Theatre Hall in Penang, Malaysia, the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, Tianqiao Arts Center in Beijing, 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 the company's award-winning original dance dramas such as "Mulan", "A Chinese Ghost Story", "The Butterfly Lovers Legend", "Lanting Tribute", and "Consonance", bringing new cultural and artistic experiences to audiences 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 institution since 2001.