The 19th Macao City Fringe Festival, organised by the Cultural Affairs Bureau, will run from 10 to 19 January 2020, and the opening ceremony will be held at the Mount Fortress Garden at 2:30 p.m. this Friday (10 January). Following the ceremony and at the same venue will be the performance Body Traveller, under the subtheme ‘On Site’ of the ‘Crème de la Fringe’ special series, during which the audience will be electrified by the charm of contemporary dance in an outdoor setting. Tickets for some of the Festival’s programmes are limited and those interested should purchase them quickly.
The one-hour opening performance Body Traveller will be presented by dancers from UK, Spain, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macao, and will introduce the audience to contemporary dance works in different styles. A list of programmes will also take place at other venues, including ImprovFlashMob under the subtheme ‘On Site’ of ‘Crème de la Fringe’ at Senado Square and the Ruins of St. Paul’s; Binaural Dinner Date by ZU-UK from the United Kingdom at Café Falala, which is a combination of an interactive performance and speed dating that helps participants to break the ice within an hour; and Macao Murder Tour by Compass Association of Creative Theatre, who will run a guided tour on a bus to treat the audience to a very different tour experience.
More intriguing performances can be expected throughout the Fringe Festival. In another subtheme ‘Puppet and Object Theatre Festival in Coloane’ of the ‘Crème de la Fringe’ series, elements of community, puppetry and people will meet in Coloane, where a rich variety of programmes can be enjoyed together. The puppet theatre programme Fragile stimulates the audience’s rich imagination through a mixed use of simple materials and picture books, light shadows, puppet manipulation and camera movements. Story Market by the Rolling Puppet Alternative Theatre features intriguing and unique story boxes with holes that allow the audience to see the dazzling world created by the puppeteer. Once upon a time in Macao invites the audience to discover the city through music and a communion between past and present. Melodic Fantasy by the Black Sand Theatre and the Clube dos Amigos do Riquexó is a performance for children to enjoy theatre, featuring puppets, actors, a lovely dancer, and magical sounds. Put out the Flame, a dance theatre production under the subtheme ‘On Site’ of the ‘Crème de la Fringe’ series, is a dive into the emotional distance inside a couple’s life directed by the British seasoned choreographer Jos Baker, who is a former dancer of Peeping Tom and DV8 Physical Theatre.
In addition, the Fringe Festival will hold a number of outreach activities such as workshops, talks, exhibitions, exchange seminars and the backstage volunteer campaign ‘Slashie’, bringing a diverse art experience to the public; registered participants are advised to arrive punctually. Tickets to the programmes are now on sale at the Macau Ticketing Network. Online registration for outreach activities can be made at www.icm.gov.mo/eform/event. For phone registration and enquiries, please contact IC through tel. no. 8399 6872 during office hours. For more information about the programmes, please visit the Fringe Festival’s website at www.macaucityfringe.gov.mo or the ‘Macao City Fringe Festival’ page on Facebook. 24-hour ticketing hotline: 2855 5555; ticketing website: www.macauticket.com.