A Dance on the Secret Language of Women, Women Fantasies and more...

Nüshu, literally "female writing", is one of the most interesting and least known writing system in the world. While traditional Chinese culture is male-centred and forbids girls from any kind of formal education, peasant women in Jiangyong county of Hunan province invented and developed this written language over hundred of years. Inspired by the alluringly embroidered Nüshu missives, as well as the shimmering prose of two contemporary Hong Kong female writers, Xi Xi and Wong Bik-wan, Helen Lai, renowned choreographer of Hong Kong, tells HerStory in another, altogether different, vocabulary. Three languages are at play here: ancient Nüshu, modern womanhood, both infused and interpreted by Lai in an excursion between the secret and overt, between text and non-text, all through the perceptive artistry of CCDC dancers.

Premiered in Hong Kong in 2007 with critical acclaims, HerStory has swept two awards of this year's Hong Kong Dance Awards and is proved to be Lai's magnum opus on the subject of women.

City Contemporary Dance Company (Hong Kong)

Over the past 30 years, through the leadership of its Founder and Artistic Director, Willy Tsao, City Contemporary Dance Company (CCDC) has inspired and elated audiences in Hong Kong and around the world with superb modern dance performances. Since 1979, in productions by leading choreographers such as Helen Lai, Mui Cheuk-yin, Pun Siu-fai, Yuri Ng, and Tsao himself, and in innovative collaborations with the best and brightest artists from other media, the company has presented over 200 original works with popular and critical acclaim and is regarded as "The artistic soul of contemporary Hong Kong" by South China Morning Post, Hong Kong. CCDC's renown in reflecting the vigour and creativity of Hong Kong's vibrant, multi-faceted contemporary culture has increased its home audience to 53,000 annually and earned it 173 overseas performances to the world's foremost dance stages and festivals in the US, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Choreographer: Helen Lai
Helen Lai was awarded "Choreographer of the Year" from the Hong Kong Artists' Guild in 1990, "Badge of Honour" from the Queen of the United Kingdom in 1995. She is a four-time Hong Kong Dance Awards winner (1999, 2000, 2001 and 2008) as well as the winner of the "Distinguished Achievement Award" (2002) from the Hong Kong Dance Alliance. She was also awarded the "Medal of Honour" by the Hong Kong SAR Government (2002), the "Award for Arts Achievement (Dance)" from the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (2003) and the Honorary Fellowship from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (2004). Lai is currently the Resident Choreographer of CCDC.