A devotee of dance since its foundation in 1906, Van Cleef & Arpels has supported in the last decades several modern and contemporary dance institutions worldwide, as well as festivals and performances. To further establish the Maison’s long term commitment to the world of dance, Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels was launched in 2020 to highlight the choreographic heritage and encourage contemporary creation.

After a successful and large-scale festival in 2023 in Hong Kong, Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels is pursuing this year its collaboration with the French May Arts Festival. In May and June, the initiative is supporting the dance performance LOVETRAIN2020 by Emanuel Gat, and is contributing to the organisation of two artistic residencies led by choreographers Ola Maciejewska and Christian Rizzo, resulting in a studio performance open to the public.

LOVETRAIN2020

LOVETRAIN2020

18 & 19 May – Kwai Tsing Theatre – Details here

An ode to the sound and vibe of the 80s, LOVETRAIN2020 by renowned choreographer Emanuel Gat calls upon the iconic music of the 80s British duo Tears for Fears featuring hits like Mad World, Shout, Everybody Wants to Rule the World, Change, or Sowing the Seeds of Love.

The twelve dancers reveal the obvious yet often overlooked ways people come together, drift apart, push, pull, question, and resolutely move forward.

With bold costumes by Thomas Bradley and lighting by Gat himself, this performance swings vigorously between stark silence and sing-alongs, paying tribute to the glorious decade of flashy fashions and exuberant pop.

PART TO PART (hidden life of forms)

Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels continues to pursue its commitment to transmission and education and is organising two new artistic residencies in collaboration with the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts for their students who will have the opportunity to showcase their works during an open studio presentation on 2 June.

PART TO PART (hidden life of forms) 

2 June – Open studio performance – The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts – Details here

After presenting her work for the first time in Hong Kong in 2023 as part of the Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels festival, choreographer Ola Maciejewska returns this year to develop a collaborative work with students of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.

Drawing on her body of work, the artist, assisted by choreographer Maeva Berthelot, will lead participants in the exploration of the tension between dance and sculpture. Together, they will choreograph a piece that will be shown during an open studio performance on 2 June.

(in/off) FRAME

(in/off) FRAME

2 June – Open studio performance – The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts – Details here

In this workshop, Christian Rizzo, director of the International Choreographic Institute in Montpellier, will attempt to answer the question on how the image of the body transforms from stage to screen. Rizzo will experiment with his students using a setup of screens and cameras to create a two-fold danced fiction both on stage and on screen. The artists will work with different overlapping viewpoints – in frame and out of frame – and investigate the dancer’s movements with respect to the viewer (the audience or the camera).

During the open studio performance on 2 June, the audience will discover a live-filmed dance piece, with a simultaneous choreographic proposal.

To know more about Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels, read our cultural portrait of Serge Laurent, Van Cleef & Arpels’ Director of Dance and Culture Programme here.