https://www.scmp.com/rss/12173/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Natasha Rogai Natasha Rogai Hong Kong Ballet (HKB) uses its annual show at the Academy for Performing Arts to present edgier, more modern programmes. This year’s offering was “Glam Rock”, a triple bill featuring the music of three rock bands: Depeche Mode, Queen and Hong Kong’s own Beyond. Brilliantly performed, this was an entertaining evening that showcased the versatility and range of the company’s dancers and included two noteworthy premieres. Martlet is a brand new work by the husband and wife team of Ricky Hu... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3349897/hong-kong-ballet-brilliantly-dances-beyond-queen-and-depeche-mode-glam-rock?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3349897/hong-kong-ballet-brilliantly-dances-beyond-queen-and-depeche-mode-glam-rock?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Apr 2026 11:15:07 +0000 Natasha Rogai Natasha Rogai Hard on the heels of the opening show La Belle Otero, the Hong Kong Arts Festival brought us another dance work inspired by an artist with a tumultuous life: Caravaggio. This was a work of stunning beauty and power, with Mauro Bigonzetti’s magnificent choreography performed by a cast of outstanding dancers led by the legendary Roberto Bolle. Among the greatest of Italian painters, Caravaggio (1571-1610) was notorious for his dissolute and violent lifestyle. He often found himself in trouble with... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3346050/caravaggio-ballet-performance-hong-kong-work-stunning-beauty-and-power?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3346050/caravaggio-ballet-performance-hong-kong-work-stunning-beauty-and-power?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Mar 2026 04:32:07 +0000 Natasha Rogai Natasha Rogai This year’s Hong Kong Arts Festival opened with La Bella Otero, a full-length narrative work from Spain’s leading dance company, Ballet Nacional de España. La Bella Otero offers a lively, entertaining showcase of Spanish dance – always popular in Hong Kong, as the rapturous reception from the audience showed – and Noelia Ruiz did an excellent job of conveying star quality, high energy and sexual allure in the title role. On the downside, choreographer Ruben Olmo and dramaturge Gregor Acuña-Pohl... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3345134/la-bella-otero-led-wild-life-ballet-hong-kong-tries-tell-her-story?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3345134/la-bella-otero-led-wild-life-ballet-hong-kong-tries-tell-her-story?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Mar 2026 11:15:08 +0000 Natasha Rogai Natasha Rogai The National Ballet of China (NBC) made a welcome return to Hong Kong this month with performances of Giselle and Chinese New Year, the company’s adaptation of The Nutcracker. In Giselle, an excellent cast was headed by prima ballerina Qiu Yunting in a luminous interpretation of the title role. When the company last performed the ballet here in 2017, Qiu made a striking impression as a young soloist dancing the evil Myrthe, Queen of the Wilis. Now, nine years later, she has matured into a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3340986/national-ballet-china-return-hong-kong-dazzling-giselle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3340986/national-ballet-china-return-hong-kong-dazzling-giselle?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Jan 2026 11:15:07 +0000 Natasha Rogai Natasha Rogai Lucie in the Sky is an award-winning show from Australia that was presented by Hong Kong’s East Kowloon Cultural Centre (EKCC) as part of its grand opening season. In keeping with the centre’s mission to pioneer the creative use of technology in the arts, the piece by the Australasian Dance Collective (ADC) features six human dancers interacting with five drones. The tiny drones – seen by the audience as lights floating in the air – are beautifully choreographed and interact elegantly with the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3337409/drones-meet-dancers-hong-kong-performance-lucie-sky?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3337409/drones-meet-dancers-hong-kong-performance-lucie-sky?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Dec 2025 10:15:07 +0000 Natasha Rogai Natasha Rogai Lucia di Lammermoor is one of the masterpieces of bel canto opera and the title role, with its challenging combination of exquisite, stylised singing and intense, realistic drama, is among the most prized in the repertoire. In Musica Viva’s new production, Lucrezia Drei’s gorgeous voice, flawless bel canto technique and vivid stage presence showed that this young Italian soprano is a worthy successor to such legendary Lucias as Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland and Natalie Dessay. Composed by... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3336580/lucrezia-drei-dazzles-musica-vivas-lucia-di-lammermoor-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3336580/lucrezia-drei-dazzles-musica-vivas-lucia-di-lammermoor-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Dec 2025 07:15:09 +0000 Natasha Rogai Natasha Rogai Kung Fu Artistry is a new work by the Hong Kong Dance Company (HKDC) that marks the 85th anniversary of the birth of the great Bruce Lee, one of Hong Kong’s best-loved and most celebrated sons. Subtitled Bruce Lee’s No Way as Way, this dance drama explores his philosophy as well as his life and martial arts prowess. Visually stunning and filled with evocative images and music, the production features thrilling martial arts choreography and a tremendous performance by Ong Tsz-shen as Lee. With... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3334993/thrilling-bruce-lee-dance-show-explores-hong-kong-stars-life-and-career?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3334993/thrilling-bruce-lee-dance-show-explores-hong-kong-stars-life-and-career?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Dec 2025 09:15:08 +0000 Natasha Rogai Natasha Rogai The Next Movement is a dance performance designed to introduce Hong Kong tap dance group Step Out Studios’ new electronic tap shoes. Instead of the usual metal plates attached to the soles to produce different sounds with different steps, the shoes are equipped with sensors to become “step-sensing devices”, through which the steps produce electronically generated sounds. The idea was born during the Covid-19 pandemic, when dancers stuck at home were unable to practice tap without disturbing... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3333923/hong-kong-invented-electronic-tap-shoes-take-first-steps-imaginative-dance-performance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3333923/hong-kong-invented-electronic-tap-shoes-take-first-steps-imaginative-dance-performance?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Nov 2025 09:45:09 +0000 Natasha Rogai Natasha Rogai “I don’t want to hit people over the head and make them sorry they came to the concert,” Renee Fleming said with a smile, “But I do want a sort of collective ‘We love the planet.’” The American soprano was talking about Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene, the title of her 2021 album and “Renee Fleming: Voice of Nature”, the concert she was performing in Hong Kong. At 66, Fleming has lost none of the beauty and glamour which, combined with her exquisite voice and dramatic ability, have made her... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3331809/soprano-singer-renee-fleming-voice-nature-how-music-good-your-health?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3331809/soprano-singer-renee-fleming-voice-nature-how-music-good-your-health?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Nov 2025 23:15:08 +0000 Natasha Rogai Natasha Rogai “Dancer’s life. Always injury,” Natalia Osipova said philosophically. The superstar Russian ballerina had just arrived in Hong Kong for the Hong Kong Ballet’s annual gala, but, nursing a hurt foot, she could not perform Don Quixote’s demanding, virtuoso pas de deux as planned and had to substitute it with The Dying Swan instead on October 15. On the night, she also performed the Balcony pas de deux from Romeo and Juliet with Patricio Revé from Queensland Ballet. It was a coup for the Hong Kong... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3330145/superstar-ballerina-natalia-osipova-being-ugly-duckling-constant-pain-baby-hopes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3330145/superstar-ballerina-natalia-osipova-being-ugly-duckling-constant-pain-baby-hopes?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Oct 2025 11:15:12 +0000 Natasha Rogai Natasha Rogai Opera Hong Kong’s new Aida offered much to enjoy. It boasted outstanding singing and acting from internationally renowned artists in the leading roles, and the chorus had never sounded better, producing impressive power and clarity in some of Verdi’s greatest choruses. That said, the production itself had some serious flaws; like the company’s recent The Magic Flute, the high calibre of music and drama was let down by aspects of the concept and design. Aida’s plot may be melodramatic, yet it is... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3328809/opera-hong-kongs-aida-dazzles-star-performances-falters-staging-and-design?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3328809/opera-hong-kongs-aida-dazzles-star-performances-falters-staging-and-design?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Oct 2025 20:15:12 +0000 Natasha Rogai Natasha Rogai Hong Kong Ballet’s new production of Giselle boasts lavish new sets and costumes by internationally acclaimed designer Jérôme Kaplan. The first night featured outstanding performances in the leading roles from guest artists Marianela Nuñez and Matthew Ball. The dancing from the company as a whole was excellent, with the female corps de ballet superb as the Wilis (ghosts) in Act 2. Kaplan has switched the ballet from its usual medieval setting to Victorian times. His Act 1 set is truly stunning –... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3312723/giselle-review-hong-kong-ballet-combines-outstanding-dancing-lavish-sets?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3312723/giselle-review-hong-kong-ballet-combines-outstanding-dancing-lavish-sets?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Jun 2025 09:15:08 +0000 Natasha Rogai Natasha Rogai Opera Hong Kong’s new production of The Magic Flute is a conundrum: the singing, acting and music are first rate, but they are let down by a misjudged concept and designs. Mozart’s final opera, despite being written when he was suffering from illness and financial woes, is among his most joyous. The libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder, a popular entertainer, offers a combination of low comedy and lofty sentiments. He and Mozart were both Freemasons and the work has strong masonic elements,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3310888/mozarts-magic-flute-opera-hong-kong-singers-outstanding-staging-disappointing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3310888/mozarts-magic-flute-opera-hong-kong-singers-outstanding-staging-disappointing?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 May 2025 09:15:07 +0000 Natasha Rogai Natasha Rogai The Bolshoi Ballet’s appearance in Shenzhen was part of the company’s third tour to China in as many years – Beijing in 2023, Shanghai in 2024 and this year Beijing and Shenzhen. After a hiatus during the Covid-19 pandemic, this was a golden opportunity to see the new generation of dancers who have been making waves in Moscow since 2020. A glittering line-up that included no fewer than 10 principal dancers plus numerous soloists produced outstanding dancing, confirming that the Bolshoi remains... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3310640/bolshoi-ballet-put-stunning-show-shenzhen-china-featuring-surfeit-talent?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3310640/bolshoi-ballet-put-stunning-show-shenzhen-china-featuring-surfeit-talent?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 May 2025 10:15:07 +0000 Natasha Rogai Natasha Rogai “These premises are under CCTV surveillance for your personal safety and security.” This ominous message on wall-mounted screens greets the audience in the auditorium of Kwai Tsing Theatre as they arrive to watch Mr Blank 2.0, by Hong Kong’s City Contemporary Dance Company (CCDC). When the curtain rises, the same words appear on the back wall of the stage. The visually dazzling dance work, with its use of multilayered video projections and intense performances, offers a bleak picture of a world... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3309386/mr-blank-20-dance-piece-thats-visually-dazzling-feels-bleak-brutal-and-voyeuristic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3309386/mr-blank-20-dance-piece-thats-visually-dazzling-feels-bleak-brutal-and-voyeuristic?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 May 2025 09:15:17 +0000 Natasha Rogai Natasha Rogai Hong Kong Ballet’s latest production, Frida, explores the life and art of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. The full-length work by choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa was developed from a one-act ballet, Broken Wings, which she created for the English National Ballet in 2019, and the retitled two-act version for the Dutch National Ballet followed in 2020. Frida is not a narrative ballet as such. Instead, Lopez Ochoa offers a series of snapshots of key moments from Kahlo’s life, interspersed with... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3305486/hong-kong-ballets-frida-visually-powerful-production-if-lacking-clarity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3305486/hong-kong-ballets-frida-visually-powerful-production-if-lacking-clarity?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 07 Apr 2025 09:15:07 +0000 Natasha Rogai Natasha Rogai Arguably the most popular of all operas, Carmen is especially beloved of Hong Kong audiences. Fittingly, in the year that marks the 150th anniversary of both the opera and of the death of its composer, Georges Bizet, the Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF) presented a production that recreated the original staging of 1875. The result was visually stunning and gave a fascinating sense of what audiences experienced 150 years ago, while offering a refreshing contrast to the modern trend of transposing... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3304523/visually-stunning-bizets-carmen-hong-kong-recreates-original-1875-staging?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3304523/visually-stunning-bizets-carmen-hong-kong-recreates-original-1875-staging?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 31 Mar 2025 09:15:07 +0000 Natasha Rogai Natasha Rogai More than 30 years after his untimely death in 1993, Rudolf Nureyev’s name has lost none of its magic. Nureyev & Friends – A Ballet Gala Tribute revisits a project Nureyev himself created in which a group of dancers would tour with a programme of short pieces, presenting top-notch ballet around the world. The repertoire consisted of works drawn from Nureyev’s career. It ranged from the familiar, with some of ballet’s most famous pas de deux, to lesser-known pieces and featured some of Nureyev’s... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3303591/mariinsky-ballets-maria-khoreva-dazzles-rudolf-nureyev-tribute-hong-kong-festival?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3303591/mariinsky-ballets-maria-khoreva-dazzles-rudolf-nureyev-tribute-hong-kong-festival?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Mar 2025 08:45:07 +0000 Natasha Rogai Natasha Rogai Czech National Ballet made its Hong Kong Arts Festival debut with La Sylphide – the earliest and best conserved complete ballet still to feature in the international repertoire. Staged for the company last year by Danish ballet superstar Johan Kobborg, this was a pleasingly authentic production which featured much good dancing and some lively acting. It was a real pity there was no live music – always a problem for ballet. This was compounded by poor quality sound which failed to do justice to... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3301721/la-sylphide-review-czech-national-ballet-dances-precision-and-authenticity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3301721/la-sylphide-review-czech-national-ballet-dances-precision-and-authenticity?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Mar 2025 03:15:08 +0000 Natasha Rogai Natasha Rogai Certain Movements and Shadows, the new production from City Contemporary Dance Company (CCDC), brings together two choreographers: Hong Kong’s legendary Helen Lai and Taiwan’s Chou Shu-yi. While the work is described as “co-choreographed” by Lai and Chou, it seems that each created different scenes rather than choreographing the same scenes together. After a slow start, the 90-minute work comes into its own in the last half-hour or so – the choreography for these final sections suggests that... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3299857/certain-movements-and-shadows-rich-ideas-it-not-pure-dance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3299857/certain-movements-and-shadows-rich-ideas-it-not-pure-dance?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Feb 2025 09:15:08 +0000 Natasha Rogai Natasha Rogai Beyond Dance Theater (BDT), founded in 2017 by dancer/choreographer Kelvin Mak Cheuk-hung, has established itself as Hong Kong’s most consistently innovative and exciting contemporary dance company under his leadership. Its latest production, The Night Before Tempest, is not one of BDT’s most successful works but has many fine moments. Described as a piece of collaborative “devising theatre”, it epitomises the company’s admirably eclectic style and the passion with which it imbues every... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3296413/beyond-dance-theaters-riff-shakespeares-tempest-has-some-stunning-moments?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3296413/beyond-dance-theaters-riff-shakespeares-tempest-has-some-stunning-moments?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Jan 2025 10:45:07 +0000 Natasha Rogai Natasha Rogai Created in 2022, dance drama Wing Chun has been a smash hit in China and overseas, with hundreds of performances in dozens of cities. Demand for tickets in Hong Kong was so high that extra dates had to be added and all performances were sold out. It is easy to see what has made the production such a success. It is a big, visually striking show, with some exciting martial arts sequences and an outstanding central performance from Chang Hongji as legendary kung fu master Ip Man, or Yip Man – the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3287965/dance-drama-wing-chun-has-brilliant-fight-scenes-outstanding-lead-confusing-narrative?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3287965/dance-drama-wing-chun-has-brilliant-fight-scenes-outstanding-lead-confusing-narrative?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Nov 2024 04:47:07 +0000 Natasha Rogai Natasha Rogai So, will you be naked? “Yes. So boring! Again!” laughs Daniel Yeung Chun-kong. One of Hong Kong’s most celebrated dance artists is returning to the stage from November 21-24 with a new edition of his legendary solo show, remembered as much for its groundbreaking use of multimedia as for Yeung being naked. A trim, elfin figure, Yeung exudes positive energy, openness and fun. At 57, he remains as curious and fearless as he was when he first staged Dance Exhibitionist – a Paradise for Natural Body... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3286759/hong-kong-dancer-daniel-yeung-get-back-touch-his-naked-body-show-freespace?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3286759/hong-kong-dancer-daniel-yeung-get-back-touch-his-naked-body-show-freespace?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Nov 2024 07:15:07 +0000 Latvian mezzo-soprano Elina Garanca is one of opera’s biggest international stars. A beautiful woman with a beautiful voice and dazzling vocal technique, she delighted the audience at her Hong Kong debut on October 29 with a crowd-pleasing selection of songs, including a suite of extracts from Bizet’s Carmen – her signature role. The arias were interspersed with equally well-known instrumental interludes, performed by the Macao Orchestra under the baton of British conductor Karel Mark Chichon,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3284628/glittering-turn-elina-garanca-and-macao-orchestra-hong-kong-operatic-gala?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3284628/glittering-turn-elina-garanca-and-macao-orchestra-hong-kong-operatic-gala?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 31 Oct 2024 09:45:06 +0000 The Butterfly Lovers is the first full-length ballet co-created by Ricky Hu Songwei, Hong Kong Ballet’s choreographer-in-residence. This was a major step for Hu and the company, and the work lived up to it. Full of emotional power, with brilliant choreography which blends classical ballet with Chinese dance to striking effect, an outstanding score, ingenious designs and moving performances, The Butterfly Lovers looks set to be a signature ballet which could help propel the Hong Kong troupe onto... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3283241/hong-kong-ballets-butterfly-lovers-review-brilliant-choreography?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3283241/hong-kong-ballets-butterfly-lovers-review-brilliant-choreography?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Oct 2024 09:15:07 +0000 The 36th Macao International Music Festival celebrated the centenary of the death of Giacomo Puccini in style with a magnificent production of Tosca by St Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre, conducted by Valery Gergiev. Musically and dramatically, it was a triumph from start to finish and drew a tremendous response from the audience. The immaculate ensemble cast was superb down to the smallest role. It was led by a trio of outstanding artists: Tatiana Serjan in the title role, Najmiddin Mavlyanov as... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3281636/mariinsky-theatres-tosca-macau-was-one-best-you-will-ever-see?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3281636/mariinsky-theatres-tosca-macau-was-one-best-you-will-ever-see?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Oct 2024 08:15:08 +0000 Tim Yip Kam-tim is a Renaissance man. He is best known as a designer of costumes and sets for both screen and stage, but he is also a painter, photographer, fashion designer and writer. His numerous awards include a best art direction Oscar and a best costume design BAFTA for Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the film that put Chinese martial arts epics on the international map and helped Yip become one of the world’s most sought-after art directors. The Post sat down with him at the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3280939/crouching-tiger-hidden-dragon-art-director-tim-yip-his-new-hong-kong-ballet-project?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3280939/crouching-tiger-hidden-dragon-art-director-tim-yip-his-new-hong-kong-ballet-project?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 06 Oct 2024 05:15:08 +0000 Mulan is a multi-award-winning dance drama based on one of China’s best-known and best-loved legends. The production by China’s Ningbo Performance & Arts Group, presented in Hong Kong by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department as part of the Chinese Culture Festival 2024, takes a surprisingly sombre approach to the story, with many powerful moments as well as some lighthearted ones. It is distinguished by striking visual and theatrical effects and an exceptional performance from Hao Ruoqi... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3278713/dance-drama-mulan-cinematic-and-striking-kudos-ningbo-performance-arts-group?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3278713/dance-drama-mulan-cinematic-and-striking-kudos-ningbo-performance-arts-group?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Sep 2024 09:15:08 +0000 Hong Kong Ballet launched its 2024/25 season with The Wizard of Oz, choreographed by the company’s artistic director, Septime Webre. A family-oriented extravaganza, it has all the hallmarks we’ve come to expect from Webre – a big, bold show with spectacular designs and theatrical effects, a huge cast (albeit the same dancers in different roles), and lots and lots of dancing. While from a ballet perspective the production has flaws, it hits its target as family entertainment and received a warm... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3276841/hong-kong-ballets-wizard-oz-has-great-dancing-and-effects-falls-short-story?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3276841/hong-kong-ballets-wizard-oz-has-great-dancing-and-effects-falls-short-story?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Sep 2024 10:15:08 +0000 “A sensitive artist with a beautiful technique and an innate sense of storytelling … I’d like to announce the newest principal dancer of the National Ballet of Canada: Miss Tirion Law.” This announcement on June 9, 2024, by the ballet’s artistic director Hope Muir, was made on stage after Law’s debut as Kitri in Don Quixote. It came as a complete surprise to the Hong Kong-born dancer. “My brain was empty and I didn’t really know what to do,” the 28-year-old recalls during an interview while on... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3275943/hong-kong-ballet-star-tirion-laws-rise-principal-dancer-national-ballet-canada?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3275943/hong-kong-ballet-star-tirion-laws-rise-principal-dancer-national-ballet-canada?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Aug 2024 23:15:08 +0000 Lady Macbeth, performed as part of the first Hong Kong International Shakespeare Festival, is a starkly powerful piece of dance theatre that takes a novel approach to its source material. Created in 2018 by Italy’s imPerfect Dancers Company and choreographed by the company’s artistic directors, Walter Matteini and Ina Broeckx, it has been restaged in collaboration with Hong Kong Dance Company (HKDC), whose dancers performed it magnificently. Lady Macbeth is not an adaptation of Shakespeare’s... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3266047/breathtaking-lady-macbeth-hong-kong-dance-company-intense-ferocious-skilful?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3266047/breathtaking-lady-macbeth-hong-kong-dance-company-intense-ferocious-skilful?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Jun 2024 10:15:08 +0000 As soon as American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato walked on stage you could see she is not your usual diva: she was barefoot beneath her glamorous evening gown, and she had a pink streak in her blonde hair. One of today’s most celebrated singers, DiDonato is known for transcending boundaries. She has focused largely on early music but also performs modern music. She sings in operas as well as giving jazz recitals. With Il Pomo d’Oro, an ensemble specialised in historically informed performances... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3265453/joyce-didonatos-eden-exceptional-singing-superb-playing-and-urgent-message?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3265453/joyce-didonatos-eden-exceptional-singing-superb-playing-and-urgent-message?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Jun 2024 03:15:08 +0000 Hong Kong Ballet’s new Swan Lake was lifted on the first night by a magnificent performance from Ye Feifei as Odette/Odile, partnered superbly by guest artist Matthew Ball of The Royal Ballet. With their classical dancing and fine acting, the pair showed why Swan Lake has stood the test of time. Whether the ballet’s enduring appeal was brought out by the rest of the production is another question. Hong Kong Ballet’s aim in staging a new Swan Lake was to offer a fresh perspective on the 19th... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3265164/stunning-swan-lake-lead-dancers-cant-hide-flaws-new-hong-kong-ballet-production?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3265164/stunning-swan-lake-lead-dancers-cant-hide-flaws-new-hong-kong-ballet-production?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Jun 2024 08:22:08 +0000 “When it’s danced beautifully, nothing can beat it.” Septime Webre, artistic director of Hong Kong Ballet is talking about Swan Lake, a new production of which he has commissioned from choreographer Yuri Possokhov that will premiere on May 31. A fantasy that portrays the struggle between good – in the form of Odette, the White Swan, and Prince Siegfried, who falls in love with her – and evil, personified by the sorcerer Von Rothbart, whose magic has turned Odette into a swan, and his daughter... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3263481/why-hong-kong-ballet-needed-new-swan-lake-septime-webre-yuri-possokhovs-production-classic-work?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3263481/why-hong-kong-ballet-needed-new-swan-lake-septime-webre-yuri-possokhovs-production-classic-work?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 May 2024 10:15:09 +0000 It seems the 1980s are in fashion in the dance world. A few weeks after Hong Kong Ballet brought us Andonis Foniadakis’s frenetic Strangelove, set to songs by Depeche Mode, the French May Arts Festival presented Emanuel Gat Dance’s LoveTrain2020, set to songs by another iconic 1980s band, Tears for Fears. The blurb for LoveTrain describes it as a “contemporary musical” and “a choreographic ode to the sound and vibe of the eighties”. There is no doubting the energy and commitment the 10 dancers... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3263333/lovetrain2020-review-contemporary-musical-fails-fully-capture-joy-1980s?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3263333/lovetrain2020-review-contemporary-musical-fails-fully-capture-joy-1980s?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 May 2024 09:45:10 +0000 Hong Kong Dance Company’s new full-length production, The Legend of Lanling, continues artistic director Yang Yuntao’s quest to combine Chinese dance with martial arts. The company’s dancers have been undergoing martial arts training for several years and have now added traditional Chinese drumming to their repertoire. Both sets of skills are on dazzling display in the new work, a starkly spectacular piece of theatre that is visually stunning and superbly performed, despite some flaws. Warrior... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3258997/review-legend-lanling-hong-kong-dance-company-starkly-spectacular-superbly-performed-despite-some?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3258997/review-legend-lanling-hong-kong-dance-company-starkly-spectacular-superbly-performed-despite-some?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Apr 2024 08:15:12 +0000 Hong Kong Ballet’s “The Rule Breakers” was a triple bill of one-act ballets: two 20th-century classics, by George Balanchine and William Forsythe, as well as a new work created for the company by Greek choreographer Andonis Foniadakis. The dancing throughout was among the best I have seen from the company in recent years, doing full justice to the first two pieces and tackling the extreme challenges of the third undaunted. The programme is intended to showcase choreographers who have broken new... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3257420/breakneck-hong-kong-ballet-brings-screams-and-cheers-audience-show-emotion-rarely-seen-city?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3257420/breakneck-hong-kong-ballet-brings-screams-and-cheers-audience-show-emotion-rarely-seen-city?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Apr 2024 09:15:12 +0000 Shanghai Ballet last appeared in Hong Kong in 2013 with its signature work White Haired Girl, the 1960s communist propaganda classic. The production this time is A Sigh of Love, created for the company in 2006 by the late French choreographer Bertrand d’At, with designs by another Frenchman, Jerome Kaplan, and a story by scenarist Cao Lusheng. It was consistently well danced and visually striking, yet failed to come to life. Coincidentally, the Chinese title is the same as Wong Kar-wai’s In the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3256574/shanghai-ballets-sigh-love-visually-impressive-too-much-padding-and-key-score?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3256574/shanghai-ballets-sigh-love-visually-impressive-too-much-padding-and-key-score?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Mar 2024 09:15:11 +0000 Milan’s La Scala Theatre Ballet returned to Hong Kong for the first time since 2014 to dance Le Corsaire, one of the most entertaining of the classic 19th century ballets. The production boasts gorgeous sets and costumes by Italian designer Luisa Spinatelli and had some fine moments, notably Nicoletta Manni’s superb interpretation of the heroine, Medora, but overall the performance was uneven. Last time La Scala Theatre Ballet appeared in Hong Kong the artistic director was Makhar Vaziev, now... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3255735/le-corsaire-la-scala-theatre-ballet-hong-kong-arts-festival-had-its-moments-star-turn-nicoletta?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3255735/le-corsaire-la-scala-theatre-ballet-hong-kong-arts-festival-had-its-moments-star-turn-nicoletta?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Mar 2024 08:15:12 +0000 Ariadne auf Naxos is a bold choice to open this year’s Hong Kong Arts Festival. An opera that can be a challenge for audiences more used to Verdi or Puccini, it’s a tricky work – top-notch performances and a lot of imagination in terms of direction and design are needed to pull it off. This production by Bayerische Staatsoper was more a feast for the ears than for the eyes – it scored strongly on musical excellence, but the 2008 staging by Robert Carsen looked dated. The opera was conceived by... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3253352/ariadne-auf-naxos-hong-kong-arts-festival-opener-opera-within-opera-treats-ears-better-eyes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3253352/ariadne-auf-naxos-hong-kong-arts-festival-opener-opera-within-opera-treats-ears-better-eyes?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Feb 2024 08:45:09 +0000 Following the success of its staging of Helen Lai’s 1991 masterpiece Nine Songs two years ago, the Hong Kong Dance Company has revived another of the choreographer’s works, HerStory. Although not on a par with Lai’s greatest works, such as Nine Songs, The Rite of Spring, The Comedy of K and Testimony, HerStory certainly deserves to be seen again: the themes are thought-provoking, the choreography outstanding and it was performed superbly by the entire cast. First staged in 2007 for the City... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3245423/hong-kong-dance-companys-revival-helen-lais-herstory-features-superb-performances-it-explores-womens?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3245423/hong-kong-dance-companys-revival-helen-lais-herstory-features-superb-performances-it-explores-womens?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Dec 2023 09:15:17 +0000 Stream of Dust, the latest work created by choreographer Sang Jijia, opened the 2023 City Contemporary Dance Festival in Hong Kong on an unusually grand scale. A cast of 44 included more than 30 graduating students from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (APA) alongside professional dancers from the City Contemporary Dance Company (CCDC). An admirably well orchestrated production, Stream of Dust brings something fresh and exciting to the Hong Kong dance scene. The show, which features... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3241309/2023-city-contemporary-dance-festival-hong-kong-striking-start-stream-dust-innovative-round?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3241309/2023-city-contemporary-dance-festival-hong-kong-striking-start-stream-dust-innovative-round?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Nov 2023 09:15:26 +0000 “I was in the shower when it came to me.” Ricky Hu Songwei, choreographer-in-residence of Hong Kong Ballet, is explaining how he found the inspiration for his award-winning 2022 work The Last Song. The 37 year-old says he’d been wanting to do a piece set to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, but hadn’t found the right theme. Then, mid-ablution, Oscar Wilde’s story The Nightingale and the Rose popped into his head. A parable of romantic love, it’s about a bird that uses its last song to produce... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3239371/i-wanted-create-something-hong-kong-ballet-choreographer-ricky-hu-why-he-switched-dancing-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3239371/i-wanted-create-something-hong-kong-ballet-choreographer-ricky-hu-why-he-switched-dancing-and?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Oct 2023 09:15:12 +0000 Britain’s Hofesh Shechter Company returns to Hong Kong for the first time since 2014 with the much-heralded double-bill programme “Double Murder”. The programme, part of the New Vision Arts Festival, pairs two dance pieces designed to portray visions of hell and heaven, respectively. In this case, it’s the devil who has all the best tunes. The nightmarish Clowns is brilliantly imagined and starkly powerful, while The Fix, intended to counteract the darkness of its companion piece, is more... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3238858/british-dance-companys-double-murder-programme-part-hong-kongs-new-vision-arts-festival-shows-once?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3238858/british-dance-companys-double-murder-programme-part-hong-kongs-new-vision-arts-festival-shows-once?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Oct 2023 08:15:08 +0000 An epic production boasting an original concept, inventive designs and excellent dancing, Tide of Era portrays China’s social, economic and technological development from the 1980s to the present day. While the dance drama may at times seem to treat its overall theme in a simplistic manner, the individual stories that underpin it resonate and have depth. It is presented by the China National Opera and Dance Drama Theatre, the largest national body of its kind in China, founded in 1964 and... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3235688/tide-era-epic-dance-drama-portraying-chinas-development-1980s-featured-excellent-performances-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3235688/tide-era-epic-dance-drama-portraying-chinas-development-1980s-featured-excellent-performances-and?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Sep 2023 09:15:08 +0000 The 10th edition of the Hong Kong Tap Festival was also the 15th anniversary of its presenter, R&T (Rhythm & Tempo), Hong Kong’s only full-time professional tap dance company. The festival’s gala performance was a celebration of the passion and dedication R&T have put into pioneering and popularising tap dance in Hong Kong. It brought together Hong Kong talent along with guest artists from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Shanghai, in a showcase of technical skill and energy. The programme... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3234241/10th-hong-kong-tap-festival-energetic-celebration-dance-featuring-talent-city-and-east-asia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3234241/10th-hong-kong-tap-festival-energetic-celebration-dance-featuring-talent-city-and-east-asia?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Sep 2023 08:15:16 +0000 Created by Marius Petipa in 1877, La Bayadère is one of the masterpieces of classical ballet. This lavish version by Ukrainian dancer Vladimir Malakhov is Hong Kong Ballet’s first full-length production since 1999. The run featured magnificent dancing by three guest artists – Marianela Nuñez and Vadim Muntagirov from Britain’s Royal Ballet and Iana Salenko of Berlin State Ballet – along with some fine performances from the company’s own dancers. The story is set in a fantasy Indian kingdom where... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3223061/royal-ballets-marianela-nunez-and-vadim-muntagirov-give-supreme-guest-performances-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3223061/royal-ballets-marianela-nunez-and-vadim-muntagirov-give-supreme-guest-performances-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Jun 2023 09:15:08 +0000 As Marianela Nuñez finishes her Act Three solo in La Bayadère, wild applause rings out – and it gets even wilder after her partner, Vadim Muntagirov, completes his own solo. We are in the rehearsal studio at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and the audience consists of dancers from the Hong Kong Ballet, thrilled to be up close and personal with dancing of this stratospheric level. Nuñez and Muntagirov are both superstars, but you’d never guess it from how they behave. The two principals from the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3222280/it-makes-you-feel-alive-royal-ballets-marianela-nunez-and-vadim-muntagirov-dancing-la-bayadere-hong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3222280/it-makes-you-feel-alive-royal-ballets-marianela-nunez-and-vadim-muntagirov-dancing-la-bayadere-hong?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 31 May 2023 08:15:14 +0000 The American Ballet Theatre (ABT), one of America’s top dance companies, last performed in Hong Kong in 2018. This time ABT’s Studio Company, a training ground for emerging talent, was in the city with a diverse ensemble comprising 12 dancers aged between 16 and 21, most from North America and others from Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Brazil and Spain. Performed at the Jockey Club Amphitheatre in the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, the show had high standards and high energy, with... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3217442/american-ballet-theatres-hong-kong-show-ballet-superstars-future-impresses-emerging-talents-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3217442/american-ballet-theatres-hong-kong-show-ballet-superstars-future-impresses-emerging-talents-and?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Apr 2023 09:15:08 +0000 Coco Chanel: the Life of a Fashion Icon is a new full-length ballet created for the Hong Kong Ballet by a top-notch international team: choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and her frequent collaborators, designer Jérôme Kaplan, composer Peter Salem and dramaturge Nancy Meckler. Whether you see Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel as admirable, despicable or a mixture of both, she was a strong character. Disappointingly, this production does no more than skim the surface of her complex life. For a ballet... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3214945/hong-kong-ballets-coco-chanel-life-fashion-icon-disappoints-despite-beautiful-visuals?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3214945/hong-kong-ballets-coco-chanel-life-fashion-icon-disappoints-despite-beautiful-visuals?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Mar 2023 08:15:16 +0000