FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Hong Kong Ballet Presents Frida’s Asian Premiere,
Celebrating an Iconic Artist’s Magical Life and Journey
Featuring spirited original music and stunning sets and costumes inspired by Kahlo’s colourful art and Mexican heritage
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[Hong Kong — 24 February 2025] One of the most important painters in the 20th century, the Mexican-born Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) is a blazing symbol of artistic subjectivity, female liberation and the magical world of surrealism. Colombian-Belgian choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa (HKB’s Coco Chanel: the Life of a Fashion Icon) has created a visually stunning Frida that tells the iconic artist’s multifaceted life story of triumph and tragedy with rich imagery from her bold paintings and deeply personal self-portraits. Hong Kong Ballet will present Frida’s Asian premiere during 4-6 April with five performances at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts's Lyric Theatre. Tickets are available now at Cityline.
Dance and Painting Collide: An Ode to Frida Kahlo
Dutch National Ballet premiered Frida in 2020 to sold-out houses every night, and since then, the show has been in demand. Ochoa shares, ‘Frida had a difficult life with a lot of pain, but she used her situation as a source of inspiration. I was deeply moved by how Frida transformed her physical immobility and constant pain into art. The Mexicanismo painting style is characterised by 2D works, so my choreography for some of the characters is angular and frontal to illustrate Mexicanismo.’
Seamlessly fusing the classical and the contemporary, this vivid work majestically showcases Ochoa’s inventive partnering as dancers weave a tale of tempestuous affairs, heart-wrenching struggle and complex, uncompromising art. As Frida’s painting style is reflected in the choreography, the lines are blurred between dance and painting.
Explosion of Colour and Poetic Sounds
Costume and set designer Dieuweke Van Reij incorporated iconic elements from Frida’s art into her designs. Skeletons, Mexican skirts and animals immerse audiences into the world of Frida’s paintings. The show starts in black, grey and white, but when Frida discovers painting, the set becomes an explosion of colours. Set against British composer Peter Salem’s lively original score with vibrant touches of mariachi, flamenco and jazz music, the compelling characters in Frida’s magical world are exuberantly brought to life.
Frida pays a hauntingly beautiful tribute to a visionary trailblazer who painted her version of the world against staggering odds and left an unforgettable social and artistic legacy.
Frida Synopsis
When vibrant Frida Kahlo is in an unexpected bus accident as a teenager, her life instantly changes forever. Bedridden and lonely, she turns to painting in a distinct indigenous Mexican style to express her feminist and anti-colonial ideals. Later, she meets famed muralist Diego Rivera, and they fall in love and get married. Throughout their relationship, Frida deals with weighty issues relating to health, marital fidelity and her ability to conceive. When the couple stays in the US for almost three years for work, Frida is often left alone and explores other relationships. Upon their return to Mexico, her health declines rapidly, and she paints larger works to pay for her medical treatment. When she discovers that Diego had an affair with her sister Cristina, she goes into a deep depression and becomes overly dependent on painkillers. Unable to paint anymore or even leave her house, Frida passes away at age 47.
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Frida
4 APR 2025 (Fri) 7:30pm
5-6 APR 2025 (Sat & Sun) 2:30pm & 7:30pm
Lyric Theatre, The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
Book at Cityline
$1,200 (limited VIP tickets), $720, $500, $350, $250
Half price for local full-time students and senior citizens
Recommended for ages 6 and above
The performance lasts approximately 2 hours, including an intermission
Creative Team
Concept, Libretto, Choreography: Annabelle Lopez Ochoa
Dramaturge and Libretto: Nancy Meckler
Music: Peter Salem
Set & Costume Design: Dieuweke Van Reij
Set & Costume Design Assistant: Luca Stappers
Lighting Design: Christopher Ash
Live Accompaniment: Hong Kong Sinfonietta
Conductor: Matthew Rowe
Costumes courtesy of Ballet Arizona
For interviews and further information, please contact:
Hong Kong Ballet
Jerry Qiu | Communications & Programme Manager | T: 21059753 | [email protected]
Ruth Chung | Assistant Marketing and PR Manager | T: 21059716 | [email protected]
About Hong Kong Ballet
Hong Kong Ballet (HKB) is recognised internationally as a world-class institution that represents Hong Kong's unique character. Since its inception in 1979, HKB has evolved into a vibrant performing arts organisation with a dynamic repertoire, forward-thinking community engagement initiatives and an emphasis on excellence.
Comprised of 50 dancers from all over the globe – Hong Kong, Mainland China and other parts of Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and North America, HKB has won recognition both regionally and internationally with celebrated re-stagings of the classics, neoclassical masterworks by George Balanchine and others and original ballets created for HKB and about Hong Kong. Additionally, HKB performs works by some of today’s most sought-after choreographers, including Alexei Ratmansky, Christopher Wheeldon, Wayne McGregor, Justin Peck, Jiří Kylian, Nacho Duato and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa as well as innovative new works by its Choreographer-in-Residence, Hu Song-wei Ricky, and numerous emerging Hong Kong choreographers.
With almost 50 tours to 11 countries, HKB has recently toured throughout Europe, the US and Asia and places a special emphasis on representing Hong Kong in Mainland China and the West. HKB maintains the Hong Kong Academy of Ballet, a professionally-oriented ballet school, as well as a full schedule of award-winning community programmes and crossover collaborations throughout Hong Kong to ensure ballet is accessible to all. HKB has also produced engaging original videos and dance films that have collectively garnered over 10 million views online, connecting with ballet lovers worldwide.
