Hong Kong dance productions in 2017 – from dazzling to dreadful

A hugely entertaining new production of Le Corsaire and a long-awaited revival of Helen Lai’s 2006 Testimony were highlights, while City Contemporary Dance Company delivered the dud of the year

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Wei Wei and Chen Zhiyao perform during Hong Kong Ballet’s popular production of Le Corsaire. Photo: Conrad Dy-Liacco

Published: 1:00pm, 28 Dec 2017Updated: 4:41pm, 29 Dec 2017

The wheel of fortune continued to turn for Hong Kong’s three flagship dance companies this year.

This time it was Hong Kong Ballet that finished the year in the ascendant, with an injection of fresh energy and innovative ideas from new artistic director Septime Webre, who took up the reins in July. His tenure got off to a flying start with an excellent re-run of Don Quixote (the last day’s performances taking place despite a No. 8 typhoon signal in the morning in classic “the show must go on” style) followed by a good edition of the annual Choreographers’ Showcase .

Above all, a hugely entertaining new production of Le Corsaire, staged by Anna-Marie Holmes with extra coaching by Julio Bocca, raised the company’s classical dancing – from principals, soloists and corps de ballet alike – to a new level. Among the up and coming dancers to make a strong impression were Chen Zhiyao, Xia Jun, Ayano Haneishi and Shunsuke Arimizu.

The 2017/18 season was planned under Webre’s predecessor, Madeleine Onne, and it will be interesting to see what lies ahead when he takes over the programming himself.

Review: Hong Kong Ballet’s Le Corsaire reaches new heights with superb energy and execution

The last few months of Onne’s own eight-year stint at the helm featured a revival of Ronald Hynd’s delightful Coppélia, with sparkling performances from Shen Jie and Liu Yiu-yao in the leads, and a striking new version of Carmen which reaffirmed the talent of in-house choreographers Yuh Egami and Ricky Hu Songwei.