Education & Arts
Education & Arts
Knowledge is wealth: it alleviates poverty and has the potential to transform the world as we know it. Education, be it traditional, or creative, provides individuals with hope and opportunities.
Yvonne Lui Professorship at Harvard University
The Trust is committed to promoting education as a way of addressing global challenges. To this end, the Yvonne Lui Professorship at Harvard University was created to promote excellence in teaching and research at Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences. This professorship endowment supports the work of a highly esteemed academic in one of the following areas: fundamental science, East Asian studies or international economics.
Fellowship at Cambridge University
As the fourth oldest surviving college of the University of Cambridge, Gonville and Caius has a long and rich history dating back to 1348.
The college has been home to twelve Nobel prize winners alongside prestigious names in the fields of art, science, sport and culture. These include Sir James Chadwick, who discovered the neutron, and Francis Crick, who co-discovered the structure of DNA.
The Yvonne Lui Trust has provided the college with assistance to ensure it can continue to invest in its teaching, research and students well into the future. Such support ensures that future generations of young people will be able to enjoy the same benefits as current students receive today.
In May 2015, Dr. Lui was invited to celebrate Professor Stephen Hawking’s 50th anniversary as a fellow at Gonville and Caius College.
Beijing International Ballet Competition
With help from sponsors such as the Yvonne Lui Trust, the Chinese Ministry of Culture and the Beijing Municipal Government organised the fifth Beijing International Ballet and Choreography Competition (Beijing IBCC) in July 2019 in order to enable national and international talent to compete on a new world stage, that of China. Professional dancers between the ages of 17 and 26, and choreographers between 18 and 40, were invited to enter. The Trust has supported the event since its beginnings in 2011.
The aim of the Beijing IBCC is to provide another world-renowned platform for aspiring dancers, professionals and members of national ballet dance troupes to participate at this biennial event. The emphasis of the competition is on artistic standard and variety, classical ballet and choreography, with successful participants gaining global attention from the top schools, choreographers, dance troupes, media and benefactors. Prizes of up to 20,000 USD in each category help change the lives and dancing opportunities of the Beijing IBCC’s contestants.
The Yvonne Lui Trust helped support the launch and development of the Beijing IBCC because it is important for China’s art and performance scene to be put on the world map and for individuals in China to have the opportunity to train and learn from the best. The Trust also believes that ballet and dance is an elevating cultural experience that has no geographical or language barriers, but rather brings people together through education and the discipline of dance.
Many of ballet’s great stars from around the world have come from humble beginnings. Expensive to fund one’s own teaching, competition fees, travel and outfit costs, great talents rely on high level competitions to manifest their dreams and maintain their careers. The Beijing IBCC subsidises many brilliant dancers without means to ensure that the very best talent can join the event and perform in front of the art’s leading lights. At the most recent event, the judging panel included the legendary Julio Bocca Artistic Director of Uruguay National Ballet) and Sergei Filin (former Artistic Director of Bolshoi Ballet), alongside classical and contemporary dancer Uliana Lopakina.
Beijing’s National Centre of Performing Arts hosted the Beijing IBCC in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019 with the Trust’s ongoing assistance.
Our Founder Yvonne Lui (2nd from right) met with the Secretary of the CPC NCPA Committee and President of the NCPA, Wang Ning (left), ZHAO Jiachen, Deputy Secretary of the CPC, NCPA Committee and Vice President of the NCPA (right), and President of the Beijing IBCC Artistic Committee, Zhao Ruheng (2nd from left), at the closing night of the 5th Beijing International Ballet and Choreography Competition.
Our Founder Yvonne Lui (right), and her daughter Zoe Lau (left), pictured above with the President of the Artistic Committee, Zhao Ruheng (centre), at the The 5th Beijing International Ballet and Choreography Competition.
Beyond Dance Theater
Beyond Dance Theater was established by Hong Kong art professionals. It is committed to promoting contemporary dance performance art and establishing a cross-platform and cross-border art exchange platform. The main themes of the works depict human nature, the intertwining of different performance forms and the pursuit of integrating the body, mind and soul.
Supporting local talent, the Yvonne Lui Trust sponsors Beyond Dance Theater and its performances through its Artistic Development Sponsorship Scheme.
The most recent production, The Wind of Empty, is heavily influenced by Japanese author Osamu Dazai, who said, “The bloom of youth is also marked by fretfulness and loneliness. I don’t know how to deal with it. It is definitely torturous.”
The performance explores the wandering mind, excruciating loneliness and the struggle of letting go……With wind being the only companion, the wanderer is stuck in a loop of emotions on his journey to find a place to call home.