1. The Hong Kong Ballet confirms that Principal Dancer Faye Leung has been released from the Company effective 23 January 2009.
2. The Hong Kong Ballet is committed to building a world-class company that reflects the soul and aspirations of Hong Kong and with a culture whereby the highest standards of performance are expected from dancers in all aspects of professional life.
3. The Ballet is in excellent shape and is well prepared with several very strong casts for its Hong Kong Arts Festival programme, All Bach. It has a strong bench of outstanding principal dancers including Jin Yao and guest principal Tan Yuan Yuan. The Company has also been nurturing several up and coming dancers who are showing world-class potential.
4. The current artistic director, John Meehan, is scheduled to leave the company on 31 January 2009. It is anticipated the appointment of a new artistic director will be made in the first quarter of this year. In this transition period, all personnel matters relating to artistic staff are being made by a committee comprising the Executive Director, Ballet Master and Senior Ballet Mistress. As is common practice, the Board is consulted on any senior personnel decisions.
5. Celebrating its 30th Anniversary in 2009, The Hong Kong Ballet is one of the leading classical ballet companies in Asia and is becoming internationally recognized as a world-class institution with an identity that fully reflects the unique vitality of Hong Kong. Its programme for the coming year includes classical favourites such as Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty and contemporary ballets, such as All Bach, and is designed to appeal to a broad-spectrum audience.
About The Hong Kong Ballet
The Hong Kong Ballet is one of the leading classical ballet companies in Asia and is becoming internationally recognized as a world-class institution with an identity that fully reflects the unique vitality of Hong Kong. Celebrating our 30th anniversary in 2009, the Company has evolved into a vibrant performing arts organization with accomplished dancers, a strong repertoire, sparkling productions and an original identity. Our 43 dancers originate from nine countries - with a strong core of Chinese artists - and perform a repertoire that combines 19th and 20th century classical masterpieces, acclaimed contemporary works and new ballets commissioned by The Hong Kong Ballet. During the 2007/08 Season, the Company produced seven programs, in 42 performances and entertained an audience of 47,000.
Since 1997, The Hong Kong Ballet has raised its international profile and has concluded 18 tours to 10 different countries in North America, Europe and Asia. In the 2008/09 season, the Company conducted two successful tours in China that received strong critical acclaim, including an appearance in the 2008 Shanghai International Arts Festival and a debut at the Opera House of the National Theatre of China in Beijing.
Our repertoire reflects both the heritage and origin of ballet in Europe as well as contemporary influences, particularly those China. The Company performs the great full length ballets, such as Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker and Giselle, and the finest classical works of the 20th Century, including Balanchine's Concerto Barocco, Theme and Variations and Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Rudi van Dantzig's Romeo and Juliet, Ronald Hynd's The Merry Widow and Coppélia. We also perform acclaimed contemporary ballets, such as William Forsythe's Steptext, Stephen Mill's Hush and Stanton Welch's Clear. Our commissioned works include David Allan's Cinderella, Wayne Eagling's The Last Emperor, Yuri Ng's yeah yeah XI MEN QING, Natalie Weir's Turandot, Carlo Pacis' Beatles on a String, Eve Chan's Night Light and Stephen Baynes' The Way Alone.
Another integral part of The Hong Kong Ballet's activities are our educational and community outreach programmes. The Creative Ballet Animateur Scheme, Youth Intensive Programme, Sunday Ballet Workshops and Pre-performance Workshops, as well as lecture-demonstrations, pre-performance talks, master classes and backstage tours, serve to increase awareness and deepen appreciation of ballet among the youth. By bringing the art of ballet to the wider community of Hong Kong, we reached 33,000 people during the 2007/08 Season.
Press Contacts:
| Heidi Chik PR and Marketing Manager Hong Kong Ballet Tel. 2105 9742 heidi_chik@hkballet.com |