Hong Kong Ballet triple bill is energetic and well danced, but programme lacks ‘wow’ factor
‘Wheeldon, Ratmansky, McIntyre and The Beatles’ features contrasts in choreographic style, but not in mood – and none of the works on show have the kind of substance you can get your teeth into
Programming a triple bill is like planning a three-course meal. You need dishes that contrast each other yet go together well, and you need to make sure there is a satisfying main course – something with a real “wow” factor.
While Hong Kong Ballet’s new programme is entertaining, energetic and, as always with this company, well danced, it feels too much like a succession of appetisers. There are contrasts in choreographic style but not in mood (all the pieces are upbeat) and none of the works on show have the kind of substance you can get your teeth into.
The best came first with a welcome revival of Alexei Ratmansky’s Le Carnaval des Animaux. If undoubtedly a minor work in terms of this modern master’s oeuvre, it nonetheless shows his intense musicality and unique flair for finding new ways to develop the vocabulary of classical ballet without abandoning its essential spirit.
It was beautifully performed by the entire ensemble. Notable were Naomi Yuzawa’s ferocious Hen, Shen Jie’s henpecked Cockerel, and Jonathan Spigner and Li Lin’s bounding horses. The stand-out, however, was the enchanting Liu Miaomiao as the Elephant, a performance that perfectly encapsulated the wit, charm and inventiveness of Ratmansky’s choreography.
Ratmansky’s main rival as the world’s most sought-after neoclassical choreographer is Christopher Wheeldon and it was a coup for Hong Kong Ballet to present the Asian premiere of one of his early successes, Rush.
