M+ Live Art x HK Ballet:
Beyond Carbon
4 Sept 2022
M+ Live Art x HK Ballet:
Beyond Carbon
Beyond Carbon is an online festival presented by M+ and Hong Kong Ballet that seeks to raise awareness of the most urgent issue of our times—global climate change—through cultural and artistic means. Taking as its starting point the scientific consensus that human activity is the major cause of climate change, the programme is a call to mindful collective action to save our planet for future generations. Set against the monumental architecture of the Herzog and de Meuron–designed M+ building, the eight short, choreographed chapters address environmental emergencies from two perspectives: Mortal Ignorance, tension between nature and humankind, and Human Traces, the material traces on earth left by human activity. Viewers will be taken on a journey of exploration, reflection, and empowerment.
Mortal Ignorance
Once upon a Lucid Dream
Choreography: Jonathan Spigner
Music: Once Upon a Lucid Dream by Kishi Bashi
Location: Main Hall
Humankind behaves as if it were Master of the Universe, trying to shape the world to its will. Mother Nature is always there to humble, showing her modesty and resilience no matter how much we test her.
Osmosis
Choreography: Leung Chunlong
Music: Sarajevo by Max Richter
Location: Atrium
Change does not take place instantly; it happens slowly over time. Humankind’s development is related to that of other beings and things on Earth, exerting a slow irreversible impact upon all.
Retribution
Choreography: Luis Cabrera
Music: Ameno by ERA
Location: East Entrance
While humanity is anxious about our future survival, we disregard the cries of nature. By ignoring the needs of our environment, humanity is embarking on an unnatural path along which we resist evolving into something not yet known.
The Enduring Cycle
Choreography: Li Lin
Music: Station by Låpsley
Location: Lightwell Hall
Through mindful collective action, trees are planted, they flourish and grow, restoring ecological balance and harmony. A seed sown signifies new life and offers hope for the future.
Once upon a Lucid Dream
Choreography: Jonathan Spigner
Music: Once Upon a Lucid Dream by Kishi Bashi
Location: Main Hall
Humankind behaves as if it were Master of the Universe, trying to shape the world to its will. Mother Nature is always there to humble, showing her modesty and resilience no matter how much we test her.
Osmosis
Choreography: Leung Chunlong
Music: Sarajevo by Max Richter
Location: Atrium
Change does not take place instantly; it happens slowly over time. Humankind’s development is related to that of other beings and things on Earth, exerting a slow irreversible impact upon all.
Retribution
Choreography: Luis Cabrera
Music: Ameno by ERA
Location: East Entrance
While humanity is anxious about our future survival, we disregard the cries of nature. By ignoring the needs of our environment, humanity is embarking on an unnatural path along which we resist evolving into something not yet known.
The Enduring Cycle
Choreography: Li Lin
Music: Station by Låpsley
Location: Lightwell Hall
Through mindful collective action, trees are planted, they flourish and grow, restoring ecological balance and harmony. A seed sown signifies new life and offers hope for the future.
Human Traces
Siren
Choreography: Jessica Burrows
Music: Rude by Shygirl
Location: The Forum
The siren can be both captivating and alarming. Sirens can issue a warning, while the Sirens of Greek mythology would lure sailors to their deaths. In the pursuit of the temporary fulfilment of our desires, we permanently mark the environment. While our lives are fleeting, what we leave on the earth remains, accumulating over time, and adding to the destruction of the planet.
Invisible Echo
Choreography: Feng Jingyi
Music: Nisi Dominus, RV 608 ("Cum dederit") by Antonio Vivaldi
Location: Found Space
Everything in the world resonates. Our incessant consumption of plastics exerts an invisible toll on the marine environment. The discarded plastic never disappears but constantly lives on, accumulates, and pollutes our marine ocean life. The incessant cycle creates an invisible echo between man’s actions and the natural ecology, reverberating without end.
All costumes and props for this piece were made from discarded plastic bags.
Landslide
Choreography: Sarita Chan
Music: Landslide by The Chicks
Location: Grand Stair
A solo artist performs against a mountain of clothes discarded through the cycle of fast fashion, a devastating consequence of our greed and hubris. Performed to ‘Landslide’, written by Stevie Nicks and played by the American country group The Chicks, this dance compares our gratuitous waste to the devastation of a landslide.
Carbon Footprint
Choreography: Lin Chang-yuan Kyle
Music: Arise by Christophe Filippi
Location: Lightwell Hall
Without conscious awareness, we are harming our environment with small actions every day. Should we take responsibility for the consequences of our actions, or continue to ignore them?
Siren
Choreography: Jessica Burrows
Music: Rude by Shygirl
Location: The Forum
The siren can be both captivating and alarming. Sirens can issue a warning, while the Sirens of Greek mythology would lure sailors to their deaths. In the pursuit of the temporary fulfilment of our desires, we permanently mark the environment. While our lives are fleeting, what we leave on the earth remains, accumulating over time, and adding to the destruction of the planet.
Invisible Echo
Choreography: Feng Jingyi
Music: Nisi Dominus, RV 608 ("Cum dederit") by Antonio Vivaldi
Location: Found Space
Everything in the world resonates. Our incessant consumption of plastics exerts an invisible toll on the marine environment. The discarded plastic never disappears but constantly lives on, accumulates, and pollutes our marine ocean life. The incessant cycle creates an invisible echo between man’s actions and the natural ecology, reverberating without end.
All costumes and props for this piece were made from discarded plastic bags.
Landslide
Choreography: Sarita Chan
Music: Landslide by The Chicks
Location: Grand Stair
A solo artist performs against a mountain of clothes discarded through the cycle of fast fashion, a devastating consequence of our greed and hubris. Performed to ‘Landslide’, written by Stevie Nicks and played by the American country group The Chicks, this dance compares our gratuitous waste to the devastation of a landslide.
Carbon Footprint
Choreography: Lin Chang-yuan Kyle
Music: Arise by Christophe Filippi
Location: Lightwell Hall
Without conscious awareness, we are harming our environment with small actions every day. Should we take responsibility for the consequences of our actions, or continue to ignore them?
Special Programme
The online festival also comprises a special screening of The Measures, a new piece choreographed by Stephen Shropshire. This finale resonates with the overall theme by engaging the abstract form of dance to animate the materiality of the climate crisis.
The Measures
Choreography: Stephen Shropshire
Music: It Begins–Pt 1, 2 & 3 by Blue Foundation
Climate crisis has been discussed for years, yet for many, it is still more an abstract idea than imminent catastrophe. In this choreography, Shropshire chooses a purely abstract exploration of how environmental variations determine our experience of time and space. These 'measures' can be understood as the effects of climate change on our personal or collective mobility, those that frame or delineate new time space conditions. This is a poetic and virtuosic exploration of perseverance in the face of progressive and irrevocable measures. Choreographed to music by the Brooklyn- and Copenhagen-based band Blue Foundation.
About Hong Kong Ballet
As one of Asia’s premier ballet companies, Hong Kong Ballet (HKB) is internationally recognised as a vibrant art institution that represents Hong Kong’s unique character. Established in 1979 and led by Artistic Director Septime Webre, HKB has a dynamic repertoire performed by nearly fifty dancers from all over the globe and award-winning education and community programmes.
Led by Artistic Director Septime Webre, Hong Kong Ballet has nearly fifty dancers from all over the globe. Photo: Worldwide Dancer Project. Courtesy: Hong Kong Ballet
Image at top: Invisible Echo by Feng Jingyi. Dancer: Jessica Burrows. Photo: Keith Hiro. Courtesy of Hong Kong Ballet
Image in carousels: Once upon a Lucid Dream by Jonathan Spigner. Dancers (from left): Amber Lewis (till Season 2021/22), Henry Seldon. Photo: Keith Hiro; Osmosis by Leung Chunlong. Dancers: (front, from top) Gouta Seki, Kim Eunsil, (back) Leung Saulong. Photo: Keith Hiro; Retribution by Luis Cabrera. Dancer: Wang Zi. Photo: Keith Hiro; The Enduring Cycle by Li Lin. Dancers (from left): Wang Zi, Shen Jie, Henry Seldon, Yang Ruiqi, Kent Eguchi, Xu Shentian, Ye Feifei. Photo: Keith Hiro; Siren by Jessica Burrows. Dancer: Wang Yueh Erica. Photo: Keith Hiro; Invisible Echo by Feng Jingyi. Dancer: Feng Jingyi. Photo: Keith Hiro; Landslide by Sarita Chan. Dancer: Ashleigh Bennett. Photo: Mak Cheong Wai; Carbon Footprint by Lin Chang-yuan Kyle. Dancers: Reina Sawai and Hong Kong Ballet Dancers. Photo: Keith Hiro; The Measures by Stephen Shropshire. Dancers (from top): Jonathan Spigner, Kim Eunsil. Photo: Conrad Dy-Liacco. Courtesy of Hong Kong Ballet.