From the brushstrokes of Wu Guanzhong to dance | Cultural Exchange | Bernard Charnwut Chan

From May 22 to 24, the Hong Kong Dance Company brings the Grand Dance Poem In Between–Wu Guanzhong’s Ink Odyssey to the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. The new work draws on the paintings of Wu Guanzhong (1919–2010), a central figure in 20th‑century Chinese art known for combining ink traditions with elements of Western modernism.

Wu studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux‑Arts in Paris from 1947 to 1950, then returned to China, where he developed a style that moved between landscape, abstraction, and calligraphic line.

His paintings often reduced buildings, rivers and trees to arrangements of dots, sweeping strokes and blocks of color. That visual language provides the starting point here.

Artistic director Yang Yuntao, who also choreographed the production, does not try to reproduce Wu Guanzhong’s paintings on stage. Instead, he absorbs the energy and works with some of the painter’s basic ideas. A single line might send a dancer walking the length of the stage; a tight cluster can expand as performers move apart and regroup. At times, the stage is almost bare, then suddenly filled.

The aim is not simply to interpret Wu’s works, but to explore the artistic realm embodied in his brushwork, allowing different disciplines to converge into a unified whole. What carries through is a sense of timing – when to hold back, when to move, and when to let the space breathe.

The production also brings together artists from different fields. The original music is composed and performed by Ivana Wong, who also appears as a guest performer. Lighting designer Dominique Drillot and visual designer Sophie Laly contribute to the piece’s visual and spatial language.

The performances form part of the French May Arts Festival and the Chinese Culture Festival 2026, and are presented under the Wu Guanzhong Art Sponsorship Cross-disciplinary Series, co‑organized by the Hong Kong Museum of Art. In revisiting Wu’s work through dance, the company returns to the question that shaped his career: how different artistic languages might meet, overlap and continue to evolve.

Bernard Charnwut Chan is the chairman of the West Kowloon Cultural District

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓