【Hong Kong - 17 February 2009】The Hong Kong Ballet's All Bach, part of 37th Hong Kong Arts Festival, has drawn to a successful close on 15 February after three performances to capacity crowds at Lyric Theatre of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
All Bach featured four innovative contemporary ballets: from the technically thrilling and highly dramatic Steptext by William Forsythe, to George Balanchine's classic Concerto Barocco, to Stanton Welch's contemporary masterpiece Clear, to Wang Xin Peng's exciting dance theatre, Mein Bach.
The Company's debut of Forsythe's Steptext was particularly impressive. "Brett Simon and Li Jia-bo, in particular, captured Forsythe's style, and Jin Yao in the female lead was a revelation," dance critic Natasha Rogai wrote in the South China Morning Post today.
A glamorous event, the opening night of All Bach was attended by many celebrities in town including Flora Cheong-Leen, Jean Wong, Mira Yeh and Janet Ma. Audience reaction was extremely responsive and high-spirited. Enthusiastic applause and bravos were heard after each ballet as the audience was amazed by the versatility and professionalism of the Company. All Bach proved that The Hong Kong Ballet's dancers are as accomplished in the well established classics as in abstract, contemporary works.
Live accompaniment by the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, under the baton of Andrew Mogrelia in the first half of the programme, added colour to the stunning performance of the dancers on stage.
A master class entitled The Choreographic Process of Forsythe was held on 1 February and A Dialogue with the Masters, another fringe programme highlight, was held on 3 February. The latter offered a good chance for public to meet the choreographer Wang Xin Peng and William Forsythe's rehearsal directors Agnes Noltenius and Thierry Guiderdoni up close. The international guests shared how Bach has been an inspiration for different ballet masters, while dancers demonstrated contemporary ballet movements and performed excerpts from the programme.
Watch out for more dazzling productions in celebration of the 30th Anniversary of The Hong Kong Ballet. Bookmark the official website www.hkballet.com for the news updates.
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 programmes, 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 Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing.
Our repertoire reflects both the heritage and origin of ballet in Europe as well as contemporary influences, particularly those in 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 |
Irene So Assistant Marketing Manager Hong Kong Ballet Tel: 2105 9723 irene_so@hkballet.com |
| Chloe Kwung Marketing Officer Hong Kong Ballet Tel: 2105 9757 chloe_kwung@hkballet.com |
Photos
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| Concerto Barocco Dancers: Chantel Elizabeth Roulston, Jin Yao Photo: Gordon Wong |
Clear Dancer (front): Kyoko Tomimura Photo: Tony Luk |
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| Steptext Dancers: Jin Yao, Kostyantyn Keshyshev Photo: Gordon Wong |
Steptext Dancers: Jin Yao, Li Jia-bo Photo: Gordon Wong |
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| Mein Bach Dancers: William Lin, Eve Chan Photo: Mose Mak |
Mein Bach The Hong Kong Ballet Dancers Photo: Gordon Wong |
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| Mein Bach Dancer (front): William Lin Photo: Mose Mak |
Mein Bach Dancer: Wu Fei-fei Photo: Gordon Wong |