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Arts review: Hong Kong Ballet’s Choreographers’ Showcase

A mixture of debuts and return performances in a fine showcase of Hong Kong’s best dance and choreography with few disappointments

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From left: Jie Shen, Naomi Yuzawa, Davit Gagik Vardanyan and Leung Chun-long in Passion Flower by Jonathan Spigner. Photo: Conrad Dy-Liacco

This Hong Kong Ballet programme of new choreography saw the return of previous contributors making good progress and a number of promising first works from new ones.

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The piece with the most emotional depth was Li Lin’s Follow Your Heart. Three women in white and three men in black dance with – or apart from – a dancer dressed in both colours, whose identity is torn between male and female. There are attractive groupings with a touch of (choreographer) George Balanchine, a powerful final image and a stand-out performance from Xia Jun in the androgynous central role. This thoughtful, well-structured piece shows Li taking a huge step forward as a choreographer.

Luis Cabrera in Night Thoughts by He Chaoya and Li Jiabo.
Luis Cabrera in Night Thoughts by He Chaoya and Li Jiabo.
Also impressive was Night Thoughts, a collaboration between Hong Kong Ballet’s Li Jiabo and Hong Kong Dance Company’s He Chaoya.

Elegant and elegiac, the piece had an intriguing sense of mystery and made clever use of a swinging lamp to evoke the night skies into which the dancers gaze. It featured well-crafted groupings and a demanding central duet, beautifully performed by Ye Feifei, a welcome return to the company as principal and Ryo Kato.

Yuri Moriwaki (left) and Yumiko Fukuda in Shogun by Ryo Kato.
Yuri Moriwaki (left) and Yumiko Fukuda in Shogun by Ryo Kato.
After an outstanding debut as Siegfried in last month’s Swan Lake, Kato makes his choreographic debut with Shogun.
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Admirably assured, the piece not only succeeded in telling a dramatic story clearly and concisely but included some strong choreography with spectacular lifts and male duets. It was performed with truly samurai élan by a cast led by Li Jiabo and Yuh Egami.

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