Sail again after a thousand journeys

Trained in Chinese dance from childhood, Mao Wei came to Hong Kong from Hunan at the age of 18 on a full scholarship to study contemporary dance and choreography at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Upon graduation, he launched his career in Hong Kong, evolving from a dancer into a choreographer. Despite a smooth start to a flourishing career, his life took an unexpected turn in recent years. With his marriage on the rocks and his career hitting a low point, his frustrations were made even worse by the sudden passing of a well-respected mentor. After hitting rock bottom, all Mao had left was dance, and he only felt alive when he was dancing impromptu to music, alone in the studio.

These experiences inspired him to create Dance Me to the End of Night. "This sense of 'madness' in itself does not mean arrogance, but that when there is nothing left to lose."

Dance theatre is, after all, something new for Mao. He thinks less about whether each dancer portrays a role in Dance Me to the End of Night and more about how they express their state of mind purely with their bodies. "Words are too concrete. The charm of dance lies in the expression of sentiments, not with words, but with movements that generate meaning. This way, the audience can feel the emotional transformation experienced by each character through physical movements."

Although there are seven dancers in Dance Me to the End of Night, the madman always ends up alone. Mao confesses that at the end of the day, he was motivated by a desire to prove to others that "I can still make it", which is why this dance is ultimately a one-man party.