Cast Announced for
Hong Kong Ballet’s Brand New Production
Pinocchio

[Hong Kong – 25th August 2015] Hong Kong Ballet announces today the cast list for the Company’s brand new production – Pinocchio. 10 dazzling performances will be held at the Grand Theatre of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre from 28^th to 30^th August and 4^th to 6^th September 2015 (Friday to Sunday).

Pinocchio is one of the best-known fairy tales! Renowned choreographer Pär Isberg has given a magical touch to this fairy tale through the wonderful movement of ballet and masterful story-telling that captures the attention of the entire family. There will certainly be lots of smiles and laughter in the theatre! Also, award-winning costume designer Jérôme Kaplan has designed a series of glamorous and breathtaking costumes for all of the characters with many secret tricks to present a series of thrilling moments live on stage! While set designer Bo-Ruben Hedwall has designed a lot of wonderful giant sets with a European flare. Next week this fairy tale will be brought to life as we start our adventure!

Tickets are going fast! Tickets available at URBTIX now!

Cast List for Lead Roles

	28 Aug (Fri) 7:30pm 29 Aug (Sat) 7:30pm 30 Aug (Sun) 6:30pm 5 Sep (Sat) 7:30pm	29 Aug (Sat) 2:30pm 30 Aug (Sun) 1:30pm 4 Sep (Fri) 7:30pm 6 Sep (Sun) 6:30pm	5 Sep (Sat) 2:30pm 6 Sep (Sun) 1:30pm
Pinocchio	Shen Jie	Leung Chun Long	Vittorio Galloro
Geppetto	Li Jia-bo	Lucas Jerkander	Li Lin
The Blue Fairy	Liu Miao-miao	Jin Yao	Liu Yu-yao
Cricket	Liu Yu-yao	Arianne Lafita Gonzalvez	Dong Ruixue
Fox	Li Lin	Shunsuke Arimizu	Xia Jun
Cat	Liu Miao-miao	Dong Ruixue	Vanessa Lai

About Pinocchio
The Cricket appears and the adventures of Pinocchio begin. From a piece of wood, Geppetto creates Pinocchio, whom he loves as his own son. Naughty little Pinocchio keeps on running into trouble, fi¬rst with the fox and the cat, two greedy crooks, then with his best schoolmate, the naughtiest boy in class. To top it all off, he even picks up the habit of lying! His lies cannot deceive the Blue Fairy, who makes his nose grow longer as he tells lies. To look for Pinocchio, Geppetto sets out to the sea and ends up in the stomach of a whale. Will the Blue Fairy come to their rescue? Will Geppetto and Pinocchio reunite in the end? Will Pinocchio learn to be real boy and good son?

Choreography: Pär Isberg
Assistant to Choreographer: Eva Säfström
Music: Ottorino Respighi, arranged by Benjamin Pope
Costume Design: Jérôme Kaplan
Set Design: Bo-Ruben Hedwall
Props: Aya Mok
Lighting Design: Billy Chan
Live Accompaniment: Hong Kong Sinfonietta
Conductor: Benjamin Pope

Pär Isberg, Choreographer
Principal Dancer, Ballet Master and Choreographer in residence at Royal Swedish Ballet, Swedish born Pär Isberg is a Freelance Choreographer. He has choreographed a vast variety of productions including full length ballets, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Pippi Longstocking, Mr Arne’s Hourd (Royal Swedish Ballet), The Sleeping Beauty (Vanemuine Ballet/Estonia), Coppelia (National Ballet of China), Anima (Gothenburg Ballet) and, The Nutcracker (Royal Swedish Ballet, Gothenburg Ballet, Vanemuine Ballet). His one act ballets include, Hansel & Gretel, Paperclippings, In search of… (Royal Danish Ballet), Butterfly Lovers (National Ballet of China), Bachspace (National Ballet of Finland) and Harmonielehre, Elements, Cross Roads, Canzone (Royal Swedish Ballet). In addition to creating works for Theatre, Television and special events, Pär Isberg has won many awards. Among them, the Cullberg Dance Award, Drottningholm Theatre Prize and Gold Medal, the Carina Ari Prize and Gold Medal, and the Ivo Cramer Memorial Medal.

Jérôme Kaplan, Costume Designer
Paris born Jérôme Kaplan studied Scenography at L’Ecole de la Rue Blanche. After graduating in 1987 he began designing sets and costumes for opera and ballet companies globally. Since 1992, Jérôme collaborated with Jean-Christophe Maillot and the Ballets de Monte-Carlo designing sets and costumes for Romeo and Juliette, Cinderella, Casse-Noisette Circus, Eye for Eye and Scheherazade. In recent years, Jérôme has worked extensively with Bertrand d’At on many productions including, The Prince of Pagodas (Opera of Strasbourg), In the Mood for Love (Ballet of Shanghai), In the Night Look (Opera of Cairo) and more. Other recent works are Christopher Wheeldon’s The Sleeping Beauty, Ib Andersen’s Kermesse in Bruges (The Royal Danish Ballet) and Nacho Duato’s The Nutcracker (Mikhailovsky Theatre, St Petersburg and La Scala, Milan). He has also worked with David Nixon on Northern Ballet’s Ondine, A Sleeping Beauty Tale and The Great Gatsby. Since 2010 Jérôme has worked with Alexei Ratmansky creating sets and costumes for Don Quixote (Dutch National Ballet), Cinderella (Australian Ballet, Melbourne), Paquita (Bavarian State Ballet, Munich) and the world premiere of Lost Illusions (Bolshoi, Moscow), for which he won a Golden Mask Award in 2012 for costume design.

Bo-Ruben Hedwall, Set Designer
Bo-Ruben Hedwall graduated from the University College of Arts in Stockholm, Sweden and from Academie Raspail, Paris, France before embarking on a successful career as a set-designer for Swedish television. He has been the set designer for approximately 100 programmes and theatre productions. He has worked in many parts of the globe including China, Germany, Norway, Denmark and Estonia. In 2013, Bo-Ruben created the set design for Madama Butterfly and Un Giorno di Regno in Kristiansund, Norway. He is currently in demand for his designs with opera and ballet companies around the world.

Performance Details
28-30.8.2015 & 4-6.9.2015
Fri 7:30pm│Sat 2:30pm & 7:30pm│Sun 1:30pm & 6:30pm

10 performances

Grand Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre
HK$1,000 (VIP ticket) $680 $480 $280 $140
Tickets available at URBTIX now

Suitable for ages 6 and above

Ticketing Enquiries: 3761 6661
Credit Card Booking: 2111 5999
Internet Booking: www.urbtix.hk
Programme Enquiries: 2105 9724

Discounts
50% off	Full-time students, senior citizens aged 60 or above, people with disabilities (Limited tickets for students and senior citizens available on a first-come, first-served basis. This discount cannot be used in conjunction with other discounts.)
15% off	Friends of Hong Kong Ballet
10% off (First two tickets)	Members of Chung Ying Theatre’s Energy Fun Club plus, Zuni's Friends, CCDC Dance Generation Premium members, HKPO Club Bravo members, Friends of HKCO, Prestige Members of Friends of HKDC and Fringe members
Group Booking	10% off for every purchase of 10-19 tickets at regular price, 15% off for 20-40 tickets

Patrons can enjoy only one of the above discounts for each purchase.

Programme Plus!
Pre-performance Talk
29.8.2015
Sat 1:50pm-2:10pm (Conducted in Cantonese)
Sat 6:50pm-7:10pm (Conducted in English)
Level 2 Foyer, Hong Kong Cultural Centre

Excited about being amongst the first people to experience this brand new production of Pinocchio? Stop by the level 2 foyer before the performance for an insider’s view as to what it takes to create a full length ballet from start to finish. Members from the production team will share with you their experiences working with the talented dancers of Hong Kong Ballet and its artistic and technical teams. This brief talk will complement your ballet experience and familiarise you with the history of Pinocchio’s timeless tale.

The programme is approximately 20 minutes long. Free admission with Pinocchio tickets.

Enquiries
2105 9743 | [email protected]

Pre-Performance Workshop
29.8.2015
Sat 10:00am – 11:00am
GR2, Grand Theatre Backstage, Hong Kong Cultural Centre
Fee $80 each*│Quota 40
*10% discount for Friends of The Hong Kong Ballet.

Seize the opportunity to embrace your theatrical side and learn all about Pinocchio – the fairy tale classic re-imagined as a ballet by famous choreographer Pär Isberg. This fun and interactive workshop will delight and inspire participants who will be engaged in storytelling, costume and music appreciation, arts and crafts, and of course movement, as they embark on the astonishing adventures of the magical marionette who longs to be a real boy.

Tailor-made for children aged 4-8years. No previous dance experience required. Don’t miss out, book your space now!

Conducted in Cantonese and English.Only for ticket holders or Friends of The Hong Kong Ballet. Advance registration required. Registration & Enquiries: hkballet.com/workshop.

Champagne Partner

Make-Up Partner

About Hong Kong Ballet

An eclectic mix of talent, a balance of classical and contemporary works, and a unique repertoire are the trademarks of Hong Kong Ballet, Asia’s premier ballet company. Internationally recognised and acclaimed for its creativity, talent and artistry, the Company, led by Artistic Director Madeleine Onne, is committed to providing captivating experiences that delight and inspire audiences from all walks of life, both at home and abroad.

For further information, please contact:

Dustin Pak
Assistant Marketing Manager
T: 2105 9721
M: 9200 7032
[email protected]