On 25 June, to conclude our first New Works Forum on dance and multimedia this year, internationally renowned Japanese choreographer and multidisciplinary artist Hiroaki Umeda joins us in a free public forum to discuss the way forward for multimedia dance performance. The talk follows a 5-day professional workshop – in which Umeda shares his unique method of mixing digital technology and dance with local dance and multimedia artists – and also includes a sharing by participants on their experience of working with Umeda and their creative works in progress. Umeda began creating his own choreographic works at the age of 20. Since being honoured at the International Choreographic Encounters Paris Seine-Saint-Denis, he has transfixed audiences at major festivals and theatres worldwide. His aesthetic choreographic style mixes physical, optical, sensory and spatiotemporal elements, breaking the rules of traditional performance and demonstrating the fragility and isolation of contemporary urban life. Register now to join us at the forum and find out more: http://www.westkowloon.hk/en/newworksforum Speaker: Hiroaki Umeda (Japan) Respondents: Anna CY Chan (HK) – Head of Artistic Development (Dance), West Kowloon Chris Cheung (honhim) (HK) – Multimedia artist Koala Yip (HK) – Instructor, School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong Moderator: Dick Wong (HK) – Independent artist Language: English, with Mandarin / Cantonese simultaneous - In English with Mandarin / Cantonese simultaneous interpretation - Free admission. Advance registration required.

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Hiroaki Umeda Hiroaki Umeda is a choreographer and multidisciplinary artist recognised as one of the leading figures of the Japanese avant-garde art scene. Since the launch of his company S20, his restrained but powerful dance pieces have toured worldwide to audience and critical acclaim. Umeda’s work is acknowledged for his strong digital background and holistic artistic methodology that combines physical, optical, sensorial and, above all, spatiotemporal components as part of the dance choreography. His interest in choreographing time and space, has led to work not only as a choreographer and dancer, but also as a composer, lighting designer, scenographer and visual artist. Umeda’s solo works such as Adapting for Distortion (2008), Haptic (2008), Holistic Strata (2011) and split flow (2013) draw on his signature style of combining digital imagery, minimal soundscape and potent corporeality, and have transfixed audiences at major festivals and theatres worldwide. In 2009, Umeda commenced a ten-year choreographic project ‘Superkinesis’. Working with dancers of distinct physical backgrounds, he explores kinetic languages by tuning into the subtle voices of the surrounding environment. His choreographic piece, Interfacial Scale (2013) was commissioned by GötenborgsOperans Danskompani, Sweden. Peripheral Stream (2014), which premiered at Théâtre Châtelet in Paris, was commissioned by the L.A. Dance Project led by Benjamin Millepied. Since 2010, Umeda has worked on a series of installations that focus on optical illusion and physical immersion and provide an unknown sensorial experience to the audience. A series of works combining visual and physical sensation earned him the Prix Ars Electronica, Honorary Mention, in 2010. In 2014, Umeda started the ‘Somatic Field Project’ aimed at nurturing young dancers and developing his own movement method ‘Kinetic Force Method’.

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About New Works Forum In preparation for the opening of performing arts facilities of the West Kowloon Cultural District from 2017, New Works Forum is a platform for Hong Kong artists working across different fields who are interested in expanding their practice into new areas, to explore innovative ways of creating and performing, thinking and discussing topics around contemporary performances.