Subtle wit sets Swedish ballet company apart
Sweden's Cullberg Ballet has been described as 'a rare pearl of the international dance scene'.
Acclaimed at the Edinburgh Festival as 'one of the most fascinating and entertaining modern dance companies around', the troupe will bring humour to the stage when it performs three dance works A Sort Of, Out of Breath and Home and Home next Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Kwai Tsing Theatre.
The Cullberg Ballet has long been known for the trademark subtle wit - or, as one critic puts it, 'off-the-wall genius' - of its renowned choreographer Mats Ek. Now, all eyes are focused on its new artistic director Nederlands Dans and theatre dancer Johan Inger.
Hong Kong audiences will see the best of both and can decide if they agree with a reviewer for The Scotsman who noted after the ballet's Edinburgh Festival performance: 'Both he [Inger] and Ek could wipe the floor with many of today's choreographers, their distinctly European styling forcing us to think outside of the box.'
A Sort Of is demonstrative of Ek's sense of humour. The dancers blow up the tiniest gestures to cinematic proportions, revealing the very heart of the human condition.
Ek described the piece: 'A man wakes up or does he fall asleep? He enters a journey ... into a sort of reality - or is it a dream?'
Out of Breath is choreographed by Inger. It displays engaging energy, technical brilliance and sudden calm as six dancers demonstrate the way people nervously search for their place in life.
Home and Home is another work created by Inger. With movements from classical ballet, jazz and hip-hop, this modern and trendy piece is especially suitable for youngsters. Inspired partly by a murder case in Sweden, the work implies that home may no longer be a safe place. The work is situated somewhere between meaningful and meaningless, dream and reality, front and back, certain and uncertain, life and death.
The Cullberg Ballet is in its fourth decade as a leading company at the front line of modern dance. The ensemble has performed its innovative works in more than 40 countries.
A free pre-performance lecture (in English) by Mikael Jonsson, managing director of the Cullberg Ballet, will be held next Tuesday from 7.30pm to 9.30pm at AC2, 4/F Administration Building, Hong Kong Cultural Centre. A free workshop (in English) hosted by the rehearsal masters of the Cullberg Ballet will be held on Friday, June 4, from 4pm to 5.30pm at GR2, Grand Theatre Backstage, Hong Kong Cultural Centre.
Tickets are priced at $320, $220 and $120. The following discounts apply: four to nine tickets, 10 per cent; 10 to 19 tickets, 15 per cent; 20 tickets or more, 20 per cent. A 10 per cent discount is offered to Friends of LCSD performing venues.
