Xiqu Centre, West Kowloon Cultural District｜Contemporary Dance Highlight Presented by West Kowloon: Hong Kong Premiere of Moon Mirror by Taiwan's Cloud Gate Dance Theatre

Description

Presented by West Kowloon, the Hong Kong premiere of Moon Mirror by Taiwan's Cloud Gate Dance Theatre will be performed at the Grand Theatre, Xiqu Centre on 10–11 July 2026. This will be the company's first visit to Hong Kong in seven years, and the first time that the renowned choreographer Cheng Tsung-lung has led the troupe to Hong Kong since he became its artistic director.

Moon Mirror boasts an internationally acclaimed creative team. Choreographed by Cheng Tsung-lung with an original score by Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós, the production also features the work of two award-winning artists from Taiwan: Wu耿禎, who specialises in paper-cutting, and video designer Ethan Wang. Together, they create a stage fantasy that blends primitive power with contemporary technology, making this one of the most anticipated contemporary dance productions in recent years.

The Hong Kong premiere of Moon Mirror by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre is presented by West Kowloon, with generous support from Rolex and its Perpetual Arts Initiative, the arts engagement and patronage platform.

Tickets are now available at all Cityline and Xiqu Centre ticket offices.

Celestial Phenomenon Moon Mirror: A Contemporary Fable of Absurdity and Poetry Created with a Stage Language of Virtual and Actual
Moon Mirror is inspired by an uncommon celestial phenomenon, 'moon halo'—when moonlight passes through ice crystals in the clouds and is refracted at a 22-degree angle, a silvery-white halo forms around the moon, giving rise to the phenomenon known as a 'moon mirror'. Fascinated by this fleeting and mysterious sight, Cheng Tsung-lung takes it as his point of departure. In ancient Chinese, the saying 'when the moon is haloed, the wind will rise; when the foundation stone is damp, the rain will fall' suggests that the appearance of a moon halo heralds change. Taking this as a metaphor, Moon Mirror presents the tension that arises when technology forcefully intervenes in our lives, prompting the audience to reflect on how to find a balance between bodily perception and technology.

The 14 dancers transform into a primitive and mysterious tribe, expressing themselves with a wild physical language—crouching, swaying, swinging and throwing—as if being sucked into a vortex. They move between solitary dances filled with loneliness, emotionally charged pas de deux, and frenzied group dances that resemble a rebirth, portraying human desires, competition, love and solitude.

On stage, three large LED screens display cold, digital images that contrast with the powerful movements of the dancers, reflecting the imbalance of human physical senses in the age of technology and the anxiety brought about by the changing times, leading the audience into a wild and agitated fantasy world.

Moon Mirror premiered in Kaohsiung in 2019 to critical acclaim. After a revival in 2024, it embarked on a world tour, with performances in the UK, Germany and France, among other places. The Daily Telegraph in the UK named it one of the 'Best Dance Shows of 2023', praising it as a 'darkly beautiful, deeply unsettling dream', and marvelling at the breathtaking interaction between the dancers and the video design.

Internationally Acclaimed Creative Team Collaborates with Icelandic Post-rock Band Sigur Rós to Create a Cold and Surreal Stage Universe

Moon Mirror brings together an internationally acclaimed creative team. The choreography is by Cheng Tsung-lung, artistic director of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, the first contemporary dance troupe in the Chinese-speaking world. Cheng has been hailed by international critics as 'a unique voice in the dance world'. His works have been performed extensively in Asia, Europe, the Americas and Australia, earning numerous accolades, including the Bronze Award at the No Ballet Contemporary Choreography Competition in Germany and the Grand Prize at the MASDANZA International Choreography Competition in Spain. In 2020, he was selected for inclusion in Routledge's 50 Contemporary Choreographers alongside William Forsythe and Akram Khan. That same year, he succeeded Lin Hwai-min as artistic director of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre. Known for his strong physicality and striking visual aesthetics, Cheng often draws inspiration from life experiences, distilling the essence of everyday moments and human instincts and bringing them to the stage. He believes that the significance of dance lies not only in modern dance, but also in opening new horizons for people to perceive the body and its movements. In addition to martial arts, tai chi and ballet, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre's training now incorporates street dance elements, further expanding the company's artistic scope. The Stage in the UK has described Cheng as 'a choreographer with a film-maker's eye for a striking image'.

To push the boundaries of what is possible in dance and music, Cheng Tsung-lung delved into the unique feelings of different dancers during the creation of Moon Mirror, deepening the power and emotions of the work. Since its premiere in 2019, the piece has continued to evolve and take on new atmospheres with each revival. Cheng also drew inspiration from a trip to Iceland, specially inviting the Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós to compose the original score. Melding beautiful melodies with classical, experimental and minimalist elements, the music creates a sense of otherworldliness; and by combining Eastern and Western instruments, it conveys both Nordic textures and Asian tones, retaining a sense of sacred calm amid the surging undercurrents, perfectly echoing the work's exploration of anxiety, change and the unknown.

In addition, award-winning paper-cutting artist Wu耿禎 served as the visual designer and coordinator for this production, collaborating with video designer Ethan Wang, winner of the World Stage Design Awards, to create a stage that resembles a fantasy realm. By combining giant screens with a mirrored stage, they magnify parts of the dancers' bodies, transforming flesh into a landscape of mountains and waters. Surreal natural images are intentionally incorporated into the video design to create a heterogeneous space where reality and virtuality overlap, with digital images and the physical movements of the dancers intertwining in an ongoing dialogue between the real and the virtual.

'Moon Mirror by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan constructs a contemporary dance world filled with poetry and tension through the body, images and music, presenting and guiding reflections on the coexistence of humans and technology in the new era from a unique perspective and with a unique aesthetic approach,' says Leo Cheung, Executive Director, Performing Arts of West Kowloon Cultural District Authority. 'West Kowloon is committed to bringing more internationally acclaimed performing arts works from around the world to local audiences, and we are delighted to present Cloud Gate Dance Theatre's Moon Mirror at the Xiqu Centre, allowing audiences to experience its unique and captivating stage power up close.'