Seoul will host an extensive celebration of Hong Kong's vibrant performing arts scene this fall with the inaugural Hong Kong Week 2025 Seoul, a month-long festival featuring 14 diverse programs spanning dance, music, and visual culture. The festival, running from September 26 through October 25, will take place at major cultural venues throughout the South Korean capital, including the prestigious Seoul Arts Center and the National Theater of Korea.
Dance performances will serve as the cornerstone of the festival, with five productions specifically designed to showcase Hong Kong's unique cultural identity and its significant contribution to contemporary choreography. The festival will officially open with the Hong Kong Ballet's interpretation of "Romeo & Juliet" on September 26 and 27 at the National Theater's Haeorum Theater. Under the artistic direction and choreography of Septime Webre, this innovative production relocates Shakespeare's timeless tragedy to 1960s Hong Kong, creating a distinctive fusion where narrow winding alleyways and elegant cheongsams blend seamlessly with Prokofiev's classical score and the dynamic energy of kung fu martial arts. This marks the Hong Kong Ballet's first-ever performance in Korea since the company's establishment in 1979.
Three additional acclaimed dance productions will further enrich the festival's offerings. The Hong Kong Dance Company will present "A Dance of Celestial Rhythms" on October 18 and 19 at the National Gugak Center, featuring a large-scale multimedia production that reimagines traditional concepts of seasonal cycles through innovative combinations of light, sound, and cutting-edge technology while exploring profound themes of time and renewal. The City Contemporary Dance Company will stage "Mr. Blank 2.0" on October 24 and 25 at the Gangdong Arts Center, presenting an avant-garde production that employs glass walls and live camera feeds to deliberately blur the boundaries between stage and audience, reflecting the fragmented and disconnected lives of modern urban residents.
Another significant highlight of the festival is Labora Terry Arts' presentation of "Travel of the Soul: Echoes After Time," scheduled for October 17-19 at the Arko Arts Theater. This contemporary work offers a modern reinterpretation of the traditional Cantonese folk ritual known as "Breaking the Hell's Gate," deeply rooted in universal themes exploring the mysteries of life and death.
The festival will also feature The CollabAsia Project, an innovative joint initiative between the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and Sungkyunkwan University, which will showcase a collaborative work on September 30 and October 1. This unique production represents the culmination of an intensive two-week artistic residency, bringing together 15 talented students from HKAPA and 12 from SKKU to create an entirely new piece under the co-choreography of Leila McMillan and Kim Na-ye. The collaborative project will extend beyond traditional theater spaces with outdoor performances scheduled in Seoul's vibrant Daehangno district on October 3 and 4.
Hong Kong Week has been successfully bringing the city's diverse artistic talent to mainland China and major international cities since 2019, with its most recent edition taking place in Bangkok in 2023. This year marks the festival's highly anticipated Seoul debut, featuring a comprehensive program of 14 distinct offerings that encompass dance, music, film, painting, comics, and fashion, all carefully curated by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
