Free turn(it)out festival Streams from 18 MarchOver two weeks of dynamic ballet programmes 24/7 to entertain Hong Kong at home | Media | Meet HKB

**Free turn(it)out festival Streams from 18 March**

Over two weeks of dynamic ballet programmes 24/7 to entertain Hong Kong at home

[Hong Kong—5 March 2021] Hong Kong Ballet (HKB)’s first ballet festival turn(it)out festival will stream for free for two and a half weeks during 18 March - 4 April 2021 on HKB’s website and social media platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, as well as mainland China platforms such as Bilibili, Tencent Video, Weibo and WeChat. Co-presented by Freespace at the West Kowloon Cultural District as part of Hong Kong Ballet in Residence 2021, the highly anticipated dance festival explores ballet’s role in the modern world and brings together the audiences of Hong Kong, mainland China and other regions virtually with exciting world premieres and creative collaborations in classical and contemporary ballet.

HKB’s dancers, artistic and marketing teams and guest artists recently completed festival pre-recording in Hong Kong with choreographers based in Hong Kong and other parts of the world actively guiding and monitoring the rehearsals and filming under strict hygiene regulations.

turn(it)out festival features three mainstage programmes: five(by)six, a compelling programme of five intriguing contemporary ballets by six international dance-makers, The Orpheus Cabaret, a fresh new collaboration between seven HKB emerging choreographers and a team of The University of Hong Kong (HKU) creative writers, and Ballet Classics for Children: Cinderella, a charming introduction to the world of ballet for young audiences. HKB’s Artistic Director Septime Webre personally curated BINGE-WORTHY, a dazzling collection of short videos from the HKB vaults. To top it all off, a plethora of fringe activities for all ages will be available during and after the festival, including Open Company Class, Ballet Barre Classes, the Cross Training for Dancers series, MASTERCLASS! series, ballet-blah-blah-blah, HKBALLET CLASSROOM and other delightful experiences.

five(by)six presents five extraordinary contemporary ballets by six international dance-makers. Grappling with ballet’s role in the modern world, Holland-based American choreographer Stephen Shropshire begins a three-year artistic residency with HKB with Handelwerk, an intriguing new work set to sublime music by celebrated baroque composer George Frideric Handel. Webre’s world premiere of Second Movement brings together two stunning dancers in an epic duet with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, while a suite from Nguyen Ngoc Anh’s Beyond the Line, illustrating the courage to break one’s limits in a fusion of dance forms, will be presented for the first time in Hong Kong. The programme also features an award-winning piece by Hong Kong choreographic duo Justyne Li and Wong Tan-ki. Set to Philip Glass' driving score, their riveting Galatea & Pygmalion retells the classic Greek myth of the sculptor Pygmalion and his lifelike statue Galatea, exploring the relationship between a creator and his creation. Although Pygmalion eventually passed away, Galatea remained forever. Finally, the current ‘It Girl of Ballet’ Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s physically charged ballet Sombrerisimo spotlights six blazing male leads and their incredibly malleable bowler hats in this sensual, innovative work. Streaming is available from 10:00am on 18 March HKT.

The Orpheus Cabaret is a fresh new collaboration that brings together seven choreographers affiliated with HKB and a team of HKU creative writers led by Chair of Creative Writing & Theatre Page Richards, a professor and director of the HKU Guild. The classic Greek myth of Orpheus journeying to the Underworld to bring back his beloved Eurydice gets a new twist in this provocative new dance cabaret online. The Orpheus Cabaret will be conducted for free through Zoom at 8:00pm on 19 March HKT (8:00am, 19 March EST; 12:00pm, 19 March GMT). Due to limited quota, advanced registration is required. Further registration details are available at the HKB website (bit.ly/tioforpheus).

Featuring brand new choreography and direction by Webre, in partnership with veteran theatre director Ata Wong and based on an original concept and script by Yuri Ng and Rick Lau, the premiere of Ballet Classics for Children: Cinderella will bewitch audiences of all ages online with its triumphant rags-to-riches story, interactive narration by Yung Yin Sing Lucas and extravagant new costumes by renowned costume designer Yoki Lai. Part of HKB’s best-selling family series, this production will introduce the world of ballet to young audiences in this entertaining one-hour adaptation of the classic fairytale. The video will be available to stream in English or Cantonese with subtitles from 10:00am on 20 March HKT.

BINGE-WORTHY is a collection of ballet shorts personally curated by Webre, including riveting excerpts from classical and contemporary repertoire, refreshing human moments and interactive content. Pop some popcorn, relax on the couch and binge them all from 10:00am on 21 March HKT!

Other fringe activities include Open Company Class where HKB’s Ballet Master Luis Torres takes the dancers through their daily paces as they progress from warming up at the barre to extravagant pirouettes across the floor and the Cross Training for Dancers series with comprehensive five-minute workouts led by HKB’s Ballet Master Yuh Egami. Additionally, audiences of all ages can explore creative movement and enjoy music from ballet classics with HKB’s Artistic Team in Ballet Barre Classes, which includes the first episode of ‘Silver Ballet’, HKB’s newest free virtual workshop designed for seniors, with gentle exercises that focus on enhancing physical fitness, cognitive stimulation and overall well-being.

Learn more about ballet from the new MASTERCLASS! where HKB’s artistic team and international guests coach HKB elite artists in classic and contemporary repertoire: in ‘La Sylphide: James’s variation’, distinguished August Bournonville répétiteur and expert Dinna Bjørn will coach Jackson Dwyer in one of the most iconic solos in 19^th century canon. In ‘The Art of the Pas de Deux’, Webre will coach Dong Ruixue and Li Lin in Cinderella’s graceful Act II pas de deux, Eunsil Kim and Nana Sakai tackle mercurial fairy variations with coaching by Tang Min in ‘The Fairies Dance!’. In ‘Cinderella’s Funny Man—the Jester’, Shen Jie pushes himself to the limit as he tackles the Jester’s challenging variation, coached by Webre and celebrated Belgian-Colombian choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa will coach HKB’s male dancers through her dynamic ballet in ‘Coaching Sombrerisimo’.

The ballet-blah-blah-blah hosted by Webre will be back with an inspiring episode ‘Creating Work in a Pandemic: A Conversation with Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and Stephen Shropshire’ where two contemporary Europe-based choreographers discuss the ‘new normal’ of coaching and creating original content during the pandemic.

In addition, two new episodes of HKBALLET CLASSROOM focusing on Cinderella will be released. Explore Prokofiev's lush score for this cherished happily ever after fairytale in ‘Ballet Do Re Mi—Cinderella’ and learn some stage makeup basics in ‘Cinderella Makeover—Turning into an Ugly Stepsister’ where a HKB dancer will transformed by a professional makeup artist.

All turn(it)out festival fringe activities will be available starting from 10:00am on 18 March HKT and will remain available after the festival ends.

Don’t miss this extraordinary online festival with its electrifying and thought-provoking works for all ages! Get the best seat at home or wherever you are.

Creative Team

five(by)six

Handelwerk (World Premiere)
Choreography and Costume Design: Stephen Shropshire^{^}
Music: Keyboard Suite no.7 in G minor, HWV 432 by George Frideric Handel
Piano: Rachel Cheung
^{^} Shropshire’s multi-year residency is supported by the Performing Arts Fund NL.

Second Movement (World Premiere)
Choreography: Septime Webre
Music: Eine kleine Nachtmusik: 2nd Movement by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (music courtesy of Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra)
Costume Design: Yoki Lai

Excerpt from Beyond The Line (Hong Kong Premiere)
Choreography, Set and Costume Design: Nguyen Ngoc Anh
Music: Duong xa van dam (The Road to Infinity) by Quoc Trung

Galatea & Pygmalion (HKB Premiere)
Choreography: Justyne Li, Wong Tan-ki
Music: Tirol Concerto for Piano and Orchestra—Movement 2 by Philip Glass

Sombrerisimo
Choreography and Costume Design: Annabelle Lopez Ochoa
Music: Intro Espinita and Espinita by Banda Ionica, Klute by Titus Tiel Groenestege, Payo Mitcho by Titi Robin

The Orpheus Cabaret (World Premiere)
Choreography: Forrest Rain Oliveros, Jonathan Spigner, Jessica Burrows, Sarita Chan, Leung Chunlong, Lin Chang-yuan Kyle, Li Lin
Artistic Collaborator: Professor Page Richards

Ballet Classics for Children: Cinderella (World Premiere)
Choreography and Direction: Septime Webre
Associate Director: Ata Wong^{^}
Script and Original Concept: Yuri Ng and Rick Lau
Music: Sergei Prokofiev
Costume Design: Yoki Lai
Set Design: Leocampo Yuen
Lighting Design: Billy Chan
Narrator: Yung Yin Sing Lucas
^{^}By kind permission of Théâtre de la Feuille

Programme Enquiries: 2105 9724
Hong Kong Ballet reserves the right to alter the programmes and artists.

About the Artists

Dinna Bjørn

Distinguished Bournonville specialist Dinna Bjørn was the Artistic Director of The Norwegian National Ballet and Finnish National Ballet and a ballerina at The Royal Danish Ballet. She has performed almost all of the major roles and dance parts in the Bournonville repertoire.

Bjørn is a resident Bournonville teacher at English National Ballet School, Bavarian Ballet Academy, Accademia Nazionale di Danza Roma and Oslo National Academy of the Arts, where she was appointed Honourary Professor in 2020. She has staged, re-staged and reconstructed numerous Bournonville productions, including La Sylphide, Napoli, Le Conservatoire, Natalia and Ponte Molle, for ballet companies around the world.

Bjørn is the recipient of the Danish Order of Dannebrog, the Norwegian Order of Merit by King Harald and the Finnish Order of The White Rose.

Rachel Cheung

Locally born Rachel Cheung was the first Hong Kong pianist to be a Van Cliburn International Piano Competition finalist in 2017, earning both critical acclaim and the Audience Award for 'outstandingly lyrical' playing that showed 'nobility in her interpretation’. Other accolades include prizes in the 2009 Leeds, 2010 Chopin and 2012 Geneva International Piano Competitions.

Cheung frequently performs both locally and internationally. Highlights of her 2018/19 season include recitals in the US, Mexico, Italy, Poland, the UK, Germany and Japan, and creative collaborations with Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra and Asian Youth Orchestra, among others.

Justyne Li

A graduate of The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts’ School of Dance, Justyne Li is an independent dancer and choreographer. She previously danced with Hong Kong Ballet and Tanz Graz (Austria) and was a soloist with Ballett Bremerhaven (Germany) before establishing Neo Dance HK with Wong Tan-ki in 2010. Her choreographic work Division received first prize at the 7^th Jerusalem International Choreography Competition, and other accolades include numerous Hong Kong Dance Awards, like Outstanding Choreography and Outstanding Performance by a Female Dancer for Galatea X and Outstanding Achievement in Independent Dance for Galatea & Pygmalion.

Nguyen Ngoc Anh

Currently a Lecturer in Dance at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Nguyen Ngoc Anh is a dancer, choreographer and teacher. As a choreographer, Nguyen was invited to create works for Vietnamese Opera Ballet, Theatre Regensburg, Inverse Dance Company, Arabesque Dance Company, City Contemporary Dance Company and Hong Kong Ballet. He won third prize in the Vietnamese National Dance Competition, the New British Choreography Bonnie Bird Award, the Spotlight Award at the UK Critics’ Circle Dance Awards and Outstanding Choreography at Hong Kong Dance Awards. In 2019, Nguyen was appointed Artistic Director for the 21^st Hong Kong Dance Awards.

Annabelle Lopez Ochoa

Annabelle Lopez Ochoa has created works for over 60 companies worldwide, including New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Ballet Nacional de Cuba, Compania Nacional de Danza de Espana, Dutch National Ballet, English National Ballet, Royal Ballet of Flanders, Joffrey Ballet, West Australian Ballet, Scottish Ballet and The Washington Ballet. A graduate of the Royal Ballet School of Flanders, she danced for 12 years, including as a soloist at Scapino Ballet, before focusing solely on choreography. In 2010, the Temecula Performing Arts Examiner wrote: ‘Ochoa is truly a masterful choreographer with an edge for what dance can and should be in this constantly changing industry.’

Stephen Shropshire^{^}

Stephen Shropshire is a choreographer, curator and independent dance researcher who has created works for renowned ballet companies all over the globe.

Between 2009 to 2012, Shropshire was the artistic director of Noord Nederlandse Dans. In 2017, he was awarded a special honor prize from the Dansersfonds ’79 for the ‘consistent aesthetic harmony in his work’, and in 2018, his work We Are Nowhere Else But Here won the VSCD ‘Zwaan’ for most outstanding dance performance of 2017.

Shropshire is a graduate of the Juilliard School in New York City and holds an MA in Arts and Heritage from the University of Maastricht.

^{^} Shropshire’s multi-year residency is supported by the Performing Arts Fund NL.

Ata Wong

Ata Wong is a director, choreographer, actor and physical acting coach. He graduated from The Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts and École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris. After founding Théâtre de la Feuille in 2010, he created productions that toured worldwide and collaborated with numerous productions, movies and concerts.

In 2019, his outstanding contributions to arts and culture received official commendation from the Hong Kong SAR Government. He also won Director of the Year at the 2019 IATC (HK) Critics Awards, Best Director and Best Performance at the 2019 The Hong Kong Theatre Libre and Award for Young Artist (Drama) at the 2017 Hong Kong Arts Development Awards.

Wong Tan-ki

Wong Tan-ki is a freelance dancer, teacher, choreographer and multimedia designer. His work Division won first prize at the 7^th Jerusalem International Choreography Competition, and other notable awards include Outstanding Achievement in Independent Dance for Galatea & Pygmalion at the 13^th Hong Kong Dance Awards and Outstanding Choreography for Galatea X at the 16^th Hong Kong Dance Awards. Additionally, Wong received the Award for Young Artist at the 2015 Hong Kong Arts Development Awards and won third place for male solo at the IDO World Tap Dance World Championships 2012.

Yung Yin Sing Lucas

Yung Yin Sing Lucas graduated from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama in 2019. That same year, he was nominated for Best Actor for his role as Peter in Luna Gale at the 11^th Hong Kong Theatre Libre and won HKAPA’s Outstanding Actor Award for his role as Zhu Yuanzhang in its production of Dust and Dawn. Recently, he was awarded Level 1-B in the PSC (National Putonghua Proficiency Test).

Hong Kong Ballet in Residence 2021

As part of Hong Kong Ballet’s three-year residency at Freespace, the troupe take over Freespace with a programme of virtual ballet experiences for audiences of all ages.

This event is part of the commitment of the West Kowloon Cultural District to establish long-term partnerships with local and international arts organisations.

Co-presenter

Champagne Partner

Make-Up Partner

Company Partner

The Orpheus Cabaret video shoot venue kindly provided by Lambda Lounge

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Photo 1: turn(it)out festival: five(by)six’s Handelwerk | Dancers (from left): Jonathan Spigner, Ye Feifei | Photography: Conrad Dy-Liacco | Courtesy of Hong Kong Ballet

Free turn(it)out festival Streams from 18 March

Over two weeks of dynamic ballet programmes 24/7 to entertain Hong Kong at home

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**Free turn(it)out festival Streams from 18 March**