Firecracker

Firecracker
Hong Kong Ballet

Just as Christmas would not be the same without The Nutcracker, choreographer Yuri Ng Yue-lit's contemporary take on the classic, Firecracker, is becoming a staple of Lunar New Year celebrations.

The work, first performed in 1997, was updated for the Hong Kong Ballet in 2010, with help from troupe dancer Yuh Egami. Excerpts were also performed at the Shanghai Expo that year and it is now heading to Macau to herald in the Year of the Dragon.

Based on the popular score by Tchaikovsky, Firecracker is, according to Ng, family entertainment. In this adaptation, the protagonist is no longer a little girl but an elderly uncle who reminisces about the days before firecrackers were banned in Hong Kong.

Ng says that beneath the narrative lies an exploration of more abstract subjects such as Chinese values and traditions.

Ng and Egami say they have been 'fine-tuning' the ballet because they have both grown artistically since the work's last full run.

'Another reason is that the faces of the Hong Kong Ballet have changed since 2010,' Egami says.

He says that when touring productions, it is necessary to tweak the choreography in order to accommodate the technical requirements of a new venue.

'It's always interesting to see your own production again after a certain period of time because it allows you to see it as if from a third party's view,' the dancer says.

'A week ago, we sat together and watched [the 2010 version of] Firecracker, which we believed was the final version at that time, and we were able to critique it and, eventually, came up with three pages filled with small and big ideas to improve the upcoming version in Macau.'

The two choreographers are interested to see how the audience in Macau will receive their work. After all, while firecrackers have been banned in Hong Kong since the 1960s (because of their association with the riots at that time), they are a core part of Lunar New Year celebrations in Macau.

'This piece will enable us to observe how other audiences grasp the history and culture of Hong Kong,' Ng says.

Jan 20-21, 8pm, Macau Cultural Centre, HK$180. Inquiries: 2380 5083