No HKPAX Pass? Anyone Can Experience the Performing Arts Expo — Here’s How

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The Hong Kong Performing Arts Expo (HKPAX) might primarily be an industry affair, but there are still a number of ways for culture vultures to get involved. In fact, anyone can buy a day or week pass, which grants access to the wealth of performances on offer — the conversations, pitching sessions and networking events are strictly optional.

A total of 14 international companies presenting hour-long shows to stakeholders. Dance is especially well accounted for, with Canada’s Cas Public, Colombia’s Sankofa Danzafro, South Korea’s Modern Table Dance Company, Argentina production Juego del Tiempo and the Danish Dance Theatre all presenting productions — with Hong Kong’s own City Contemporary Dance Company (CCDC) flying the local flag. There’s also drama companies from Chillie, Poland and New Zealand, plus music from Germany’s Stegreif – The Improvising Symphony Orchestra and Australian multi-disciplinary show The Last Great Hunt.

Without buying a pass, two of these international showcases are open to the public, presented back to back at East Kowloon Cultural Centre on 11 October, at 15:00 and 16:30. Arriving following a well-received debut at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Paradisum (pictured above) blends contemporary dance, circus arts and theatre in a Hungarian production from director/choreographer Bence Vág. Meanwhile making its Asian debut is Catalina Ceresuela’s play An Isolated Case, an examination of the trauma and normalisation of adolescent bullying, which won Chile’s 19th National Playwriting Award.

A day before delegates arrive, on 8 October at 20:00, expo organisers Hong Kong Arts Development Council present a special public showcase of City Reverie, a brand new interdisciplinary art-tech work  inspired by Hong Kong’s ebb and flow — combining a piano performance and media art with emotional-tracking technology that tracks audiences members’ live emotions.

Finally, ahead of the main expo, HKPAX is organising a series of free al fresco events on the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront, from 6–9 September — read our full standalone guide.