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TOPIC

Ballet

Ballet
From Hong Kong to New York and beyond, find out what's happening in one of the most graceful and elegant - and punishingly hard to learn - forms of dance.
Roberto Bolle in Dolce & Gabbana. Photography: Federico Barbieri and Alba Quinones
Icons and Influencers

Q&A | High barre: a chat with dancer Roberto Bolle ahead of Caravaggio in Hong Kong

Bolle discusses how dance became his life as he prepares to bring Caravaggio to the Hong Kong Arts Festival in March.

Performing arts in Hong Kong

Why this star ballerina was an ‘ugly duckling’ and her struggles with pain

What to do in Hong Kong

5 of the best things to do in Hong Kong this weekend, October 17-19

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Performing arts in Hong Kong

What to expect at Hong Kong Arts Festival 2026, from Mozart to Caravaggio

Festival highlights include a mixed-reality Ryuichi Sakamoto show, a concert led by John Eliot Gardiner and a ballet starring Roberto Bolle.

The 54th Hong Kong Arts Festival will open with Ballet Nacional de España’s La Bella Otero, a retelling of 19th-century Spanish artist Carolina Otero’s life story. Photo: HKAF
World of performing arts

Pioneering ballet dancer Misty Copeland on diversity and what’s next for her

As she retires from American Ballet Theatre, where she was its first black principal dancer, Misty Copeland talks about ongoing challenges.

Fame and celebrity

Meet Anna Baryshnikov, who played the unsettling Daisy in Love Lies Bleeding

From joining New York’s Children’s Shakespeare Theatre to her breakout role in 2016’s Manchester by the Sea, Baryshnikov had long sought to follow her Sex and the City star father into acting.

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What to do in Hong Kong

5 of the best things to do in Hong Kong this weekend June 6-8

From the ultimate celebration of cocktails to ballet, Thai massage and a Lane Crawford pop-up, our picks for your Hong Kong weekend.

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Egg cups by Anya Life are among items including espresso cups, tea pots, butter dishes, and salt and pepper shakers available at the Anya Life pop-up at its Hong Kong outlet at the IFC Mall in Central. Photo: Lane Crawford
Performing arts in Hong Kong

Review | Giselle by Hong Kong Ballet a lavish spectacle, and company’s dancers shine

Guest artists Marianela Nuñez and Matthew Ball were excellent in the leading roles, with the HKB cast also impressing when their turn came.

Ukraine war

Ukraine’s ‘ballet in a basement’ sends a message from the war’s front lines

The staging of Chopiniana underneath Kharkiv’s musical theatre shows Ukraine’s resilience and cultural independence, opera director says.

Performing arts in Hong Kong

Hong Kong Ballet makes Titanic-like sweep of dance awards

The Butterfly Lovers wins in 6 of 8 categories at Hong Kong Dance Awards, where speakers bemoan lack of resources for art form in the city.

Hong Kong Ballet’s Ricky Hu Songwei (second from left), Ma Jingwen (centre) and Septime Webre (second from right) receive the 2025 Hong Kong Dance Awards prize for best choreography from Olivia Yan and Tang Shu-wing, one of six the company took home. Photo: Hong Kong Dance Alliance
Fame and celebrity

Yuri Grigorovich, Bolshoi ballet’s artistic powerhouse, dies aged 98

Credited with revitalising male dance, Yuri Grigorovich ruled Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre with an iron fist as its lead choreographer.

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Yuri Grigorovich gestures on the stage of the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow in April 1999, giving last-minute instructions before the opening night of Romeo and Juliet by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev. The legendary Russian choreographer has died aged 98. Photo: AFP
Performing arts in Hong Kong

Review | A surfeit of talent on show from Bolshoi Ballet in Shenzhen

With 10 principal dancers and numerous soloists, the famed Russian company performed classic and modern pieces with precision and grace.

TV shows and streaming video

You can’t fake ballet, say Étoile cast and creators about dance drama

Amazon Prime series Étoile, which follows two ballet companies from New York and Paris, shows the athleticism and dedication of ballerinas.

Hong Kong

Allez to the French May arts festival as it returns to Hong Kong

The annual celebration serves up a slice of Gallic goodness with its bounty of gourmet food and performing arts feasts.

Rachid Ouramdane’s Corps extrêmes combines acrobatics, dance and extreme sports. Photo: Le French May
Performing arts in Hong Kong

Bolshoi Ballet’s China tour to visit Shenzhen and Beijing but not Hong Kong

The famed Russian ballet company’s decision is the latest example of top performers skipping Hong Kong in favour of nearby cities.

The Bolshoi Ballet dance company will perform The Sleeping Beauty and two ballet galas in Beijing, while in Shenzhen it will perform two galas with excerpts from ballets such as Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet and The Flames of Paris. Photo: Weibo
Performing arts in Hong Kong

Review | Hong Kong Ballet’s Frida is a visually bold if sometimes bemusing spectacle

Ballet adapted from one-act work shows vignettes of artist Frida Kahlo’s life, with striking choreography and costumes, but feels stretched.

What to do in Hong Kong

5 of the best things to do in Hong Kong this weekend, April 5-7

From a brewery’s anniversary celebration to a ballet about Frida Kahlo to an Oscar-winning film, here are 5 things to check out this weekend.

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Hong Kong

Your perfect week: what to do in Hong Kong, March 30-April 5

See balletic biopic of Frida Kahlo, savour Alain Ducasse’s menu, sip Causeway Bay cocktails and enjoy live music and conversation to boost your mental wellbeing.

Frida promises a visually stunning performance of the life of Mexican-born painter Frida Kahlo. Photo: courtesy Nationale Opera & Ballet
Performing arts in Hong Kong

Review | Rudolf Nureyev gala tribute in Hong Kong full of high points

Mariinsky Ballet’s Maria Khoreva shows why she is making waves, hometown hero Lam Chun-wing earns acclaim in tribute to a legend of dance.

Art

How 3 dancers accomplished one of ballet’s most difficult feats

New York City Ballet’s Unity Phelan, Mira Nadon and Miriam Miller talk about the huge challenge of Swan Lakes’ White and Black Swan roles.

Wellness

‘I took up ballet at 78’: Hong Kong Ballet’s classes for the over-55s

The Hong Kong Ballet’s workshops for novice dancers aged 55 and over are making childhood dreams come true for troupes of young-at-heart Hongkongers.

Silver Ballet participant Mary Chan (right) practises at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, in Tsim Sha Tsui. Photo: Eugene Chan
Celebrity Families

Meet Timothée Chalamet’s multitalented mum, Nicole Flender

Chalamet told reporters after his record breaking win as best actor at the SAG awards that his mum ‘might have won me this’, and he wasn’t joking – here’s why.

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Timothée Chalamet and his mum Nicole Flender at the 31st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on February 23. Photo: Invision/AP
US-China relations

US lawmakers raise concerns about Chinese national ballet performance in Washington

Politicians say National Ballet of China performance at Kennedy Centre is part of the Communist Party’s political machinery’.

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Fame and celebrity

Meet Monica Barbaro, who plays Joan Baez in the new Bob Dylan biopic

The actress plays Joan Baez – Bob Dylan’s love interest – opposite Timothée Chalamet in A Complete Unknown, and worked with a vocal coach to nail the Queen of Folk’s singing voice.

Hong Kong economy

Letters | Hong Kong must give high-calibre talent a reason to come

Readers discuss how Hong Kong can attract well-connected professionals, a local ballet’s cross-cultural appeal, and why the second phase of the city’s plastic ban shouldn’t be delayed.

Travellers walk through Hong Kong International Airport, Chek Lap Kok, on July 15. Photo: Elson Li
Style Edit

Style Edit: Ferragamo celebrates 70 years of its signature ballet flat

The Italian maison kicked off the celebrations with a Ballerina Party on October 10, where Hong Kong film stars sported its latest clothing and handbag designs including new Vara ballet flats.

Hong Kong actress and model Louise Wong at the Ballerina Party on October 10 at Ferragamo’s Harbour City boutique. Photos: Handout
Performing arts in Hong Kong

Review | Hong Kong Ballet’s The Butterfly Lovers is a triumph of choreography

Created in-house, this version of the classic story blends ballet with Chinese dance, and has an incredible score and amazing choreography.

What to do in Hong Kong

5 of the best things to do this weekend in Hong Kong, October 18-20

From the Hong Kong Ballet to the Asian Film Festival and World Shochu and Awamori Festival, our pick of the best things to do this weekend.

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