LET’S DANCE

As well as new productions, the Hong Kong Ballet is planning to step outside the box this year. Chairwoman Daisy Ho and artistic director Septime Webre tell Rachel Duffell what we can expect

Over the past four decades, the Hong Kong Ballet has grown from a handful of enthusiastic founding dancers to a troupe of almost 50 exceptional artists from around the globe. And the achievements keep coming.

In June 2017, Septime Webre took the helm of the company as artistic director. With more than two decades of artistic leadership experience, including a 17-year stint as artistic director of the Washington Ballet in Washington DC, he has brought a bold vision and fresh creativity to the company.

In February, Septime will bring the decadent glitz and glamour of New York high society in the roaring 1920s to the stage with his adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald’s great American novel, The Great Gatsby.

“The Great Gatsby is a really muscular story—it crackles with energy and expectation. It’s certainly one of the great books of the 20th century, but it’s also really kinetic and visual,” says Septime. “The story and characters beg to be danced. And the jazz soundtrack of the era is eminently danceable. It’s both epic and intimate and has all the makings of a great ballet.”

Alongside outstanding dancing accompanied by a live jazz orchestra, the audience will be treated to spectacular sets and costumes courtesy of Oscar-winning designer Tim Yip, known for his art direction on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. “It’s really a must-see ballet,” says Daisy Ho, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Ballet.

Before the close of the 2018/19 season, the Hong Kong Ballet will debut works by two of the most celebrated choreographers working today—new York City Ballet resident choreographer Justin Peck and Royal Ballet resident choreographer Wayne Mcgregor. It will also premiere a new rendition of The Rite of Spring, staged by rising choreographic stars Ricky Hu Songwei and Yuh Egami, in collaboration with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. The ballet company is keen to project its art as fresh, exciting and evolving. Aside from staging exhilarating contemporary works, it recently launched a two-year project titled Ballet in the City, which aims to take the company’s work outside the walls of a theatre or formal performance space and present its beauty across Hong Kong. “You’ll stumble upon us just where you least expect it,” says Daisy. “You don’t have to know about ballet to enjoy it; all you have to do is look at it.”

Ballet in the City will feature pop-up performances across Hong Kong, from Tai Kwun in Central to the New Territories, and in settings as varied as art galleries, housing estates and MTR stations. “We’re planning a two-year invasion of Hong Kong,” Daisy adds.

Last year, the ballet company, which runs in-school programmes, expanded its community efforts with the launch of Relaxed Performances, which cater to special needs audiences and their carers. This provides children with autism and intellectual disabilities, who may not be able to experience the performance arts in a normal theatrical setting, with the chance to enjoy ballet in a freer environment.

The company is busy preparing a host of specially curated performances and community events for its 2019/20 season, which will be announced in April. With this season marking its 40th anniversary, the Hong Kong Ballet plans to celebrate citywide, bringing the art form to even more people.

At 40, the company is just getting into its stride. “We are already one of Asia’s premier ballet companies,” says Daisy. “We’d like to be universally regarded as one of its most forward-looking. Through the excellence of our work on stage and in the community, through producing work of international significance, and through aggressive and strategic international touring, in 40 years we will be an artistic powerhouse on the global stage.”