Faculty Members
A former coryphée of Hong Kong Ballet who has performed numerous lead roles, Irene Lo has been working closely with HKB for over a decade. Currently, she is the Associate Director of Training for HKB’s Classical Ballet Training Programme and the part-time faculty member at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA). In 2022, she obtained her Master of Fine Arts in Dance with distinction at HKAPA with a full scholarship from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund.
During 2021-2023, Lo was a Rehearsal Mistress for the children who danced in HKB’s Peter Pan, Cinderella, ALICE (in wonderland) and The Nutcracker. In 2018, she was a project coordinator for Scottish Ballet’s Hansel & Gretel. As a certified yoga and aerial yoga instructor, Lo also teaches ballet and yoga at City Contemporary Dance Company and Hong Kong Dance Company. In the past decade, she has been a guest teacher in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Malaysia, Indonesia and Macau.
Her choreographic work includes the TV ad of a Cheung Kong/ Sun Hung Kai Property Grand Jeté, Hello Hong Kong with Hong Kong Tourism Board featuring celebrities Aaron Kwok, Kelly Chan and Sammi Cheng, True Light College’s 150th anniversary musical and Three As One Theatre’s drama No Name.
Lo’s accolades include ‘Most Promising Dancer’ from Friends of Hong Kong Ballet and ‘Outstanding Performance of the Year’ from Hong Kong Dance Alliance. Additionally, Lo was Chief Executive Manager of the Asian Grand Prix (AGP) in 2013-2015 and served as a jury member in the Manila, Malaysia, AGP, Canaan International Competitions and Dance World Cup.
Soloist
Born in Stouffville, Canada, Jessica Burrows graduated from Canada's National Ballet School and danced with The National Ballet of Canada before joining Hong Kong Ballet (HKB) in 2010. She was promoted to Coryphée in 2015, joined Boston Ballet in 2017 as an Artist and returned to HKB in 2019.
With HKB, Burrows has been featured in works by Jorma Elo, Val Caniparoli, Alexei Ratmansky, Terence Kohler, Wang Xin Peng, Kinsun Chan, George Balanchine and Marius Petipa, among others. With Boston Ballet, she performed principal and soloist roles in Mikko Nissinen’s The Nutcracker, William Forsythe’s Pas Parts and Sage Humphries’ YOU, to name a few. Burrows danced in Natalia Makarova's Giselle during exchange performances with The Royal Swedish Ballet in 2013.
Coryphée
Born in Hong Kong, Leung Chunlong graduated from Beijing Dance Academy in 2009 and from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 2011, with a concentration in Ballet. He joined Hong Kong Ballet as a member of the Corps de Ballet the same year and was named Coryphée in 2014.
With Hong Kong Ballet, Leung has danced principal and featured roles including Jewels in Cynthia Harvey’s The Sleeping Beauty, Fritz and Rat King in Terence Kohler’s The Nutcracker, Gaston in Val Caniparoli's Lady of the Camellias and Pinocchio in Pär Isberg’s Pinocchio. He has also performed in John Meehan's Swan Lake, Nina Ananiashvili’s Don Quixote, Ronald Hynd's Coppélia, Natalie Weir’s Turandot, George Balanchine’s Serenade, Jiří Kylián's Petite Mort, Nacho Duato’s Castrati, Alexei Ratmansky’s Le Carnaval des Animaux, Jorma Elo's Shape of Glow, Edwaard Liang’s Sacred Thread and Fei Bo’s Shenren Chang .
His choreographic works included L’espoir (2017) and tʃHey (2016). He received an Outstanding Performance Award at the Taoli Cup Dance Competition in 2003.
Corps de Ballet
MR JUSTIN D'AGOSTINO ARTIST
Born in Hong Kong, Leung Saulong trained at The Hong Kong Camy Academy of Dancing, completed the Gifted Young Dance Program under the directorship of The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) and received a Diploma in Performing Arts and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from HKAPA. Leung joined Hong Kong Ballet as an Apprentice in 2015 and became a member of Corps de Ballet in 2019.
With Hong Kong Ballet, Leung has danced in John Meehan's Swan Lake, Terence Kohler’s The Nutcracker, Septime Webre and Charla Genn's Giselle, Anna-Marie Holmes' Le Corsaire, Nina Ananiashvili’s Don Quixote, Rudi van Dantzig’s Romeo and Juliet, Ronald Hynd's Coppélia, Septime Webre's ALICE (in wonderland) and The Great Gatsby and Pär Isberg’s Pinocchio.
Leung received gold awards at the Open Dance Contest in Hong Kong in 2009 and 2011.
Corps de Ballet
Born in Taichung, Taiwan, Lin Chang-yuan Kyle trained at Taipei National University of the Arts and Kirov Academy of Washington, DC. He then became an apprentice with Columbia Classical Ballet and later graduated on full scholarship from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Lin joined Hong Kong Ballet as a Corps de Ballet member in 2017.
With Hong Kong Ballet, Lin has performed the featured roles of Chinese Doll in Terence Kohler’s The Nutcracker, John Darling and Tootles in Septime Webre’s Peter Pan, March Hare and Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum in Webre’s ALICE (in wonderland) and the Mandarin Narrator in Yuri Ng’s Ballet Classics for Children: Swan Lake. He has also danced in Septime Webre and Charla Genn’s Giselle, Anna-Marie Holmes’ Le Corsaire, Webre’s The Great Gatsby, Alexei Ratmansky’s Le Carnaval des Animaux, Wayne Mcgregor’s Chroma, Justin Peck’s Year of the Rabbit, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa's Sombrerismo, Yuh Egami and Hu Song Wei Ricky’s The Rite of Spring and Hu Song Wei Ricky’s When You See.
Coryphée
Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Reina Sawai trained in Japan, Hong Kong and the Philippines and received a one-year scholarship in Portugal. She danced with National Ballet of Portugal, Vienna State Ballet and Boston Ballet before joining Hong Kong Ballet as a Coryphée in 2019.
With Hong Kong Ballet, Sawai has danced the featured roles of Big Swan in John Meehan’s Swan Lake, Egyptian Doll and French Doll in Terence Kohler’s The Nutcracker and Second Twin in Septime Webre’s Peter Pan. Prior to joining the Company, she performed in Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon, John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet, Rudolf Nureyev’s Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Nutcracker and Raymonda, George Balanchine’s Serenade, Who Cares and Donizetti Variations, William Forsythe’s Artifact, Pas Parts, Blake Works and Second Detail and Jorma Elo’s Fifth Symphony of Jean Silelius, among others.
Sawai was a semi-finalist at the 2008 Prix de Lausanne and a bronze medalist at the 2009 TanzOlymp in Berlin.
