2019 was a pivotal year in Hong Kong history. Five years after 2014, the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement started to brew in March and came into force in June. It brought the political and social consciousness of Hong Kongers to new height. The arts was inevitably imprinted. Theatres were closed, the citizens couldn’t have turned their minds to the appreciation of the arts, among others. In the second half of 2019, some performances were cancelled, the number of shows of the others reduced, under the impact of social movements. The Hong Kong Arts Development Council executed a relief scheme to provide monetary assistance to subsidised art groups and art projects.  

 

In response to the circumstances, the editorial approach of Hong Kong Dance Overview 2019 regards dance as situated in the community and as social contributions made by dance artists. It ended up with three writers contributing to the content. Yu Yeuk-mui Cally, who has been diligently promoting community arts and arts for the elderly, proposes in her essay ‘Dimensions of community dance as a social practice — some observations from dance and community participatory dance projects in 2019’ four dimensions for assessment to analyse community dance and community participatory dance projects under the framework of ‘arts as social practice’. Yau See-wing Catherine, dance educator, presents an overview of local street dance development and the availability of public resources in ‘“Development in Progress”: Hong Kong Street Dance Development Alliance’. Her essay focuses on a dance community which, albeit not been sufficiently studied, is gradually prospering. Leung Wai-sze Jass, cultural critic, in her essay ‘“Rediscovering” Hong Kong Choreographers — Studies on works by Hong Kong contemporary choreographers 1980–2010: Contemporary history of dance in Hong Kong, aesthetics and exploration of identity’, puts forward both a review of the book and her proposition of the archive of Hong Kong’s performing arts as valuable cultural resources of city branding.

 

Hong Kong Dance Overview 2019 is the third publication in the series, supported by a renewed round of funding by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. The editorial team is grateful to the Council and the assessors for their suggestions, and to all the writers and team members who have contributed to its successful publication.