Arts review: The Frog Prince

Following the success of The Firecracker in 2010, Hong Kong Ballet's full-length production of The Frog Prince - A Ballet Chinois reunites choreographer Yuri Ng and associate choreographer Yuh Egami.

The result is an extravaganza of fantasy, fun and first-class classical dancing. Hugely entertaining, the work is packed with symbolism and cultural references.

The "ballet chinois" in the title reflects the encounter and clash of Eastern and Western cultures - a European art form interpreted by choreographers from China and Japan.

The production opens with a small boy (a remarkable performance by Jordan Chan) reluctantly doing ballet lessons under the stern eye of his teacher (Jin Yao). Tall, elegant and authoritative, the teacher brings to mind Ng's own teacher, Jean Wong, to whom the ballet is dedicated, along with his mother.

The boy finds himself in an adult ballet class, where he is transformed into the adult frog prince. Class ends and the action moves to the Forbidden City, where the Emperor's favourite consort, Princess Moon, faces the enmity of his mother (the Empress Dowager) and is befriended by the Frog Prince. When the imperial court is forced to flee the palace, the Empress Dowager makes Princess Moon jump into a well, where, like Alice in Wonderland, she enters a fantasy world in which characters appear in bizarre guises.