Local art organisation Comuna de Pedra will launche the third edition of the highly anticipated Todos Fest!, an inclusive arts festival featuring performances, documentaries screening, and outreach workshops from 6 to 12 February. The festival unites local and Hong Kong artists, local volunteers, elderly people and individuals with physical and mental disabilities. Hot on the heels of the festival, Todos Fest! will tour in Hong Kong, continuing its artist mission: on the road – championing all voices.
Jenny Mok, the curator of the festival, indicates that Comuna de Pedra never stops spreading the power of inclusive arts. She notes, “Comuna de Pedra believes that the right to speech in the arts should not be in the hands of the majority. If arts cannot be inclusive, neither can society.”
“Calming Storms and Waves” – Dance across borders
Hong Kong artist yuenjie MARU and two dancers from Guangzhou’s Mistakable Symbiotic Dance Troupe will create and perform together with local dancer Ku Man Ian and Lee Pui I, a member of Centro Lustroso of Caritas Macau. The four dancers have different body characteristics; some are perceived as disabled with brittle bone disease, vision impairment, etc. Through solos, pas de deux and improvised practices, they will jam together against Chinese poet Su Shi’s “Calming Storms and Waves”.
“Afternoon Sunshine” – Dance a wonderful chapter of life
Soda City Experimental Workshop Arts Association and the elderly of Caritas Macau Elderly Center show the beauty of the afternoon sun with their bodies, breaking the barriers of age through art creation, and radiate creative energy.
Screening of the documentary “On The Road”
Directed by local filmmaker Kinkuan Chao, the documentary follows Ngai Tong Loi and Tang Kuai Lan, two members of the Association of Parents of the People with Intellectual Disabilities of Macau. It features their life experiences, performances, and interviews with their work trainers, and reveals their heartfelt connection with Comune de Pedra.
Todos at School: Symbiotic Dance Workshop
Led by two dancers with physical disabilities, Su HuiHeng and Gene Zhai, the workshop is designed for students to learn about symbiotic dance skills and forge meaningful connections with all walks of life.
Todos on Tour: “The Never-ending Task of Lust for Failure”
The production premiered at the Macau Arts Festival in 2021 and had a rerun at Todos Fest! 2022. Hot on the heels of Todos Fest! 2023, this action-packed production is set to extend Todos!’s inclusive spirit and discussion at the HK Arts Festival@TaiKwun.
Tickets for performances and screening are on sale NOW and available at http://hk.mikecrm.com/s9k1DbL .
Registration for school workshops is open: interested parties shall email their names, number of participants, date and contact details to [email protected] . For more information about Todos Fest!, please visit www.facebook.com/TodosComuna .
About Comuna de Pedra
Comuna de Pedra was first established in 1996. It had been focusing on physical and dance theatre productions, on stage and site-specific, and as well the promotion of the art education, with the attempt to develop more artistic possibilities and cultivate culture in Macao. Alongside, Comuna also curates and produces different arts projects such as arts exhibitions, festivals, and cross-cultural collaborative programs.
Around 50 original dance theatre productions have been performed at the most visited and not-visited corners of Macau, from indoor theatre to daily living spaces, such as public square, park, pool, empty commercial centre, pub, closed-down factory, old Macau-Taipa bridge; sites of UNESCO World Cultural Heritages such as Ruins of St. Paul Church, Old Ladies’ House.
Comuna de Pedra always employs different elements in its work, for investigating various possibilities of performing arts, such as interactive improvisation, group creation, linking up installations, video arts and other medias in a performance, in-cooperated with words, music, live band, orchestra and danced with masks and big puppets.
For enhancement of new ideas, Comuna de Pedra always teams up with local and international artists of different media for creative collaborations. Artists who are known around the region and world-wide includes Japanese choreographer Makato Matsushima, kinetic sculpture and mechanical installation artist Masato Tanaka, national-honored performer of Sichuan Opera Tian Manxa, Mexican musician Raul de Jesus Saldana, the Blackbird Band from Hong Kong, etc.
For news about Todos Fest!: www.facebook.com/todoscomuna
Social media sites of Comuna de Pedra
Website: www. comunadepedra.com
Facebook: 石頭公社Comuna de Pedra
Instagram: Comunadepedra 石頭公社
