Review | Review: Hong Kong Ballet Choreographers’ Showcase – dancers present a focused collection of short works
Company’s dancers jump at chance to choreograph their own short pieces, encompassing a riveting exploration of desire, a loving tribute to a friend, and items that were quirky and ambitious
One of his stated goals is to build a stronger connection between artists and audiences and a lively new style of presentation gave a taste of things to come under his leadership, with the programme introduced both by video of the choreographers and dancers in the studio, and Webre bringing the choreographers out on stage to talk about their work.
Another innovation was setting up a mentorship panel to give the young choreographers artistic and technical guidance. This seems to have paid off, with all eight short pieces looking impressively polished and focused despite the limited time available for their creation.
Having recently tried bringing in outside choreographers, it was good to see this year’s show giving the company’s own dancers the opportunity to choreograph, along with a welcome emphasis on classical technique, with the women on pointe in most pieces.
Not surprisingly, the most accomplished work, Demons, came from the most experienced choreographer, Ricky Hu Songwei. Superbly performed by Chen Zhiyao and Lucas Jerkander, in just seven minutes this duet offered a riveting exploration of lust, desire and dominance, with some ingenious lifts, and enhanced by Hu’s characteristic visual inventiveness.