Hong Kong Ballet's first full-length production of the year - Romeo and Juliet - retells the immortal tragedy of Shakespeare's star-crossed lovers. Choreographed by Rudi van Dantzig to Sergei Prokofiev's powerful score, Romeo and Juliet will bring the classic story vividly to life.
Romeo and Juliet was Prokofiev's first full-length ballet score. Nowadays, it distinguishes itself as one of the most popular of all ballets. His score is at once tuneful and descriptive, able to depict anything from the violence of feuding families to the poetic nightscape of the balcony scene.
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra will join forces with the Hong Kong Ballet to accompany the production under the baton of Richard Bernas, currently the Guest Conductor of The Royal Ballet at Convent Garden.
With its sumptuous set and costumes, thrilling fight scenes and tragic denouement, Romeo and Juliet embodies everything ballet should be - a must for every Hong Kong ballet lover.
Rudi van Dantzig and designer Toer van Schayk are now in town for the creation of the production. Media interview and rehearsal visit are welcome. For enquiries, please call 2105 9722 Ms. Cheung or 2105 9712 Ms. Wong.
Programme details
Choreography : Rudi van Dantzig
Music : Sergei Prokofiev
Set & Costume : Toer van Schayk
Assistant to the Choreographer : André Lewis
Lighting : Alice Kwong
Conductor : Richard Bernas
Orchestra: Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
For age 6 or above
23-24.3.2007 - (7:30pm)
24-25.3.2007 - (2:30pm)
Auditorium, Sha Tin Town Hall
$230, 180, 130, 80
* Couple tickets $420
(include two top-priced tickets, free drinks and a souvenir)
Tickets available NOW at all URBTIX outlets
Reservations: 2734 9009
Credit Card Booking: 2111 5999
Internet Booking : www.urbtix.hk
Programme Enquiries: 2105 9724 / marketing@hkballet.com
* For age 6 or above
Special treat to audience:
Children Workshop:
Be Romeo and Juliet
Date: 25 March 2007
Time: 1 - 2:00pm
Venue: Lecture Room 2, Sha Tin Town Hall
Enquiries : 2105 9743 or 2105 9744
Notes to Editors:
About Romeo and Juliet
- Over 130 items of set and props will be produced
- Over 200 costumes will be made
- Over 60 artists and children dancers will be participating in the performance
- Hong Kong Ballet is the first ballet company in Asia to present this full-scale production
Rudi van Dantzig
- One of the founding members of the Netherlands Dance Theatre and the Artistic Director of Dutch National Ballet from 1971 to 1991
- Choreographed his first ballet in 1955 for the Dutch National Ballet. Today, Rudi van Dantzig is today one of Europe's most distinguished and prolific choreographers with more than 60 ballets to his credit
- Being guest choreographer with companies that include the Paris Opera Ballet, the Royal Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Cape Town Ballet, the Royal Danish Ballet, the Budapest Ballet, and the Finnish National Ballet
- Born in Amsterdam, Holland in 1933, began dance studies with Sonia Gaskell and later strongly influenced by the modern dance technique of Martha Graham and the work of George Balanchine
- van Dantzig has used the medium of dance to convey his feelings for humanity in its constant struggles, and the psychological conflicts of the individual. "I am not one for just bringing entertainment to an audience. I like to suggest that some things in life are not that glorious and that there is every reason to improve them. I feel the necessity to say: '‘We can’t go on like we do now, there is a generation after us. What do we leave for them?' ". His objective is to inspire audiences to share that vision. "For me a ballet does not finish when the curtain closes. It goes on."
- Van Dantzig created four ballets for Rudolf Nureyev, in Vienna, London, Paris and Amsterdam. He wrote a book about his friendship of 25 years with Nureyev, called Remembering Nureyev: The Trail of a Comet. His novel, For a Lost Soldier written in 1986 was awarded several times and a movie of the same title released in 1992
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
- 20th century Russian composer who wrote in a wide range of musical genres, including symphonies, concerti, film music, operas, ballets and programme pieces.
- Profofiev's music for ballet spans his career from 1915 to his death in 1953. He has a special gift for ballet music which placed him in the big league alongside Tchaikovsky, Ravel and Stravinsky.
- Romeo and Juliet is Prokofiev's first full-length ballet score finished in 1935. It was originally created for Bolshoi Theatre but actually it lay unplayed (apart from Prokofiev's famous orchestral suites) for three years before Czech company in Brno staged it, followed in 1940 by the Kirov Theatre and 1946 by Bolshoi Theatre.
- The change from Prokofiev's avant-garde youth, with his iconoclast early scores breaking music rules left, right and center, is very marked with Romeo and Juliet. Here, as well as musical and dramatic power (like the feuds between Capulets and Montagues, and The Death of Tybalt), there is a wonderful lyricism to depict Juliet's innocence and Romeo and Juliet's tender love for each other.
Richard Bernas
- Studied conducting with Witold Rowicki (Warsaw) and Franco Ferrara (Siena)
- Companies worked with include BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal Ballet, Norwegian National Ballet, San Francisco Ballet. Operatic appearances include productions for Lyon, Scottish Opera, English National Opera, Netherlands Opera, Opera Zuid, the Theatre du Capitole and the Opera de Bastille.
- Since 1988 he has guest conducted for the Royal Ballet. In 2000 he became Music Consultant at Tate Modern
- Awards include the Royal Philharmonic Society Prize for Best Broadcast for Greek by Mark Anthony Turnage and the 1991 Gramophone Award for the opera Golem by John Casken. Other recordings include releases for NMC, Argo and Decca.
Toer van Schayk
- Born in Amsterdam, first studied with IraÏl Gadeskov then in Sonia Gaskell's Company, the Netherlands Ballet, where he launched his dancing career (1955-1959), then interrupted his career to study sculpture at the Royal Academy of Arts in Hague
- Returned to the Dutch Natianal Ballet in 1965, his expressive and powerful interpretations led him to become one of the company's best-loved soloists
- Made his first choreography in 1970 and since then produced fifty some ballets. As a designer, he collaborated closely with Rudi van Dantzig with works including Romeo and Juliet, Life, Buigen of Barsten and Swan Lake. He also did the designs for his own works, and for opera and drama
