Established by ordinance in 1984 with an autonomous governing council, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (the Academy) offers professional training in dance, drama, music, film and television, theatre and entertainment arts, and Chinese traditional theatre.

One landmark event in the Academy's development was the opening of the Béthanie House in November 2006 as a co-campus of the Academy, primarily to house its School of Film and Television.

During this year, the Academy successfully launched two academic programmes at master's degree level: Master of Fine Arts (Dance) and Master of Music. Altogether, 15 full-time and five part-time students joined these two practice-based academic programmes. At the same time, in furtherance of the Academy's strategy to sustain and to advance institutional maturity and progress, preparation was under way in offering Master of Fine Arts (Drama) and Master of Fine Arts (Theatre and Entertainment Arts). It was envisaged that the first group of students would be at the Academy in the 2007-08 academic year. In September 2007, the Academy will establish a Performing Arts Teaching Unit, which will focus on teacher-training of performing arts educators for Hong Kong's junior and secondary schools.

In 2006, the Academy's Extension and Continuing Education for Life (EXCEL) programme enrolled nearly 7 400 participants in 404 courses on the arts spectrum.