Hong Kong Ballet seeks new artistic director as Madeleine Onne steps down

Onne, who took over in early 2009, says she is leaving behind a company well known for its high standards. Highlights of her tenure include Yuri Ng’s The Frog Prince and Ricky Hu’s Bolero

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Hong Kong Ballet’s artistic director, Madeleine Onne, is to step down. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Published: 11:58am, 9 Aug 2016

Madeleine Onne is to step down as artistic director of the Hong Kong Ballet after nearly eight years at the helm of the government-subsidised troupe. A global search committee has been set up by the company’s board of governors to identify possible successors. It is not clear when a replacement will be in place.

Onne, a former artistic director of the Royal Swedish Ballet, said in a statement that the decision had not been easy but that, having led Hong Kong Ballet since May 2009, she felt that “for me and my family it is time to move on”.

Madeleine Onne coaches Hong Kong Ballet dancers. Photo: Hong Kong Ballet

“I will leave a company that internationally has become well known for its high artistic and technical standard, its dancers’ high working morale and the wonderful working atmosphere,” she added.

Onne took over the ballet company when it was in a state of flux. Her predecessor John Meehan, citing personal reasons, cut short his five-year contract in July 2008 and left in February 2009, and one of the troupe’s biggest stars, Faye Leung, was unceremoniously sacked by the board then headed by chairman John Ying.

During Onne’s tenure, Hong Kong Ballet has staged a number of noteworthy productions big and small, including Nina Ananiashvili’s Don Quixote in 2014, Yuri Ng Yue-lit’s The Frog Prince (2013), and Peter Quanz’s Luminous (2012). She has also nurtured in-house choreographic talent such as Yuh Egami and Ricky Hu, whose Bolero last year was critically acclaimed. The company has toured extensively in recent years to North and South America, China, Macau and Japan.