‘Rediscovering’ Hong Kong Choreographers — Studies on Works by Hong Kong Contemporary Choreographers 1980–2010: Contemporary History of Dance in Hong Kong, Aesthetics and Exploration of Identity

When it comes to research in theatre works, there are sizable research/ resource centres of performing arts in Europe and Asia, including the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). The Paris-based CNRS has been setting up research centres with collaborators from various universities and publishing theatre practitioners’ research works on performing arts, producing a special collection of important reference books for the up-and-coming generation and researchers from all over the world. There are different research institutes affiliated with the CASS, based in Beijing, each conducting research on topics of their concern. The Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies under the CASS, for example, adopts methodologies in folklore studies/folkloristics and anthropology, leaving a valuable legacy for Asian performing arts. In addition to the national-sized institutions, the Vlaams Theater Instituut (VTi)[1] in Belgium is one of the institutes that have enjoyed a high profile recently. Their research outcomes and publications provide a huge amount of information and data on their core artists and performing arts groups, and as a result, the database of the theatre plays and experimental dance works that they promote have enlightened the audience and readers about the vibrant art scene in Flanders and the world-famous ‘Flanders art phenomenon’.