The World Première of Pinocchio an instant hit
5 more performances this week!
[Hong Kong – 31st August 2015] Hong Kong Ballet (HK Ballet) opened its 2015/16 Season on Friday, 28th August with Pinocchio - a fun and magical production that was an instant hit among audience members, young and old! Patrons who attended the Opening Ceremony on Friday night also enjoyed the unveiling of the Company’s new brand identity.
The performance of Pinocchio was thoroughly enjoyed by all. HK Ballet commissioned renowned Swedish choreographer Pär Isberg to re-envision this much-loved story through ballet, and he did not disappoint! In addition to the wonderful choreography, the stunning costumes and magical sets including a cleverly designed whale’s stomach, the land of candy and play, and the circus, HK Ballet’s Soloist Shen Jie brought Pinocchio to life as his dancing techniques personified the mischievous marionette. While Principal Dancer Jin Yao shone as the Blue Fairy, her first lead role since the birth of her daughter. Do not miss their performance this Saturday night!
Hong Kong-born star, Leung Chun Long lit up the stage with his performances in the lead role of Pinocchio in the matinees on 29th and 30th August. Chun Long will dance the role of Pinocchio again this week in Friday and Sunday evenings’ performances. Next weekend will see another Hong Kong-born star, Vanessa Lai, who will dance the role of Cat in the matinee shows on Saturday and Sunday, while new dancers Vittorio Galloro and Arianne Lafita Gonzalvez will also dance key roles. Vittorio will dance the role of Pinocchio in both of the matinee shows on Saturday and Sunday, and Arianne will dance the role of Cricket in Friday and Sunday evenings’ performances.
Do not miss your chance to join Pinocchio’s exciting adventures from land to sea. There are 5 remaining performances. They will be staged from 4th to 6th September (Friday to Sunday)at the Grand Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Tickets are available at URBTIX now.
Cast List for Lead Roles
| 4.9.2015 7:30pm 6.9.2015 6:30pm |
5.9.2015 7:30pm | 5.9.2015 2:30pm 6.9.2015 1:30pm |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Pinocchio | Leung Chun Long | Shen Jie | Vittorio Galloro |
| Geppetto | Lucas Jerkander | Li Jia-bo | Li Lin |
| The Blue Fairy | Liu Yu-yao | Jin Yao | Liu Miao-miao |
| Cricket | Arianne Lafita Gonzalvez |
Liu Yu-yao | Dong Ruixue |
| Fox | Shunsuke Arimizu | Li Lin | Xia Jun |
| Cat | Dong Ruixue | Liu Miao-miao | 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, first 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, theCullberg 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. Aftergraduating 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, CasseNoisette 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 workedwith 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 andfrom Academie Raspail, Paris, France before embarking on a successful career as a setdesignerfor Swedish television. He has been the set designer for approximately 100programmes and theatre productions. He has worked in many parts of the globe includingChina, Germany, Norway, Denmark and Estonia. In 2013, Bo-Ruben created the set designfor Madama Butterfly and Un Giorno di Regno in Kristiansund, Norway. He is currently indemand 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, Friends of HKDC and Frindge 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.
DOWNLOAD PRESS PHOTOS
[Click on the photo to download full image]
Photo1: Shen Jie as Pinocchio, Hong Kong Ballet Dancers as Marionettes | Photographer: Tony Luk
Download
Photo2: Shen Jie as Pinocchio, Hong Kong Ballet Dancers as Marionettes | Photographer: Tony Luk
Photo3: Liu Yu-yao as Cricket and Hong Kong Ballet Dancers | Photographer: Tony Luk
Download
Photo4: Li Lin as Fox, Shen Jie as Pinocchio and Liu Miao-miao as Cat | Photographer: Tony Luk
Photo5: Jessica Burrows as Columbina, Xia Jun as Arlecchino, Hong Kong Ballet Dancers as Marionettes | Photographer: Tony Luk
Photo6: Shen Jie as Pinocchio and Hong Kong Ballet Dancers as Schoolmates | Photographer: Tony Luk
Photo7: Shen Jie as Pinocchio, Jonathan Spigner as Lampwick, Ricky Hu as The Coach Man and Hong Kong Ballet Dancers as Schoolmates | Photographer: Conrad Dy-Liacco
Photo8: Hong Kong Ballet Dancers as Schoolmates | Photographer: Conrad Dy-Liacco
Photo9: Shen Jie as Pinocchio and Hong Kong Ballet Dancers as sea creatures | Photographer: Kitmin Lee
Photo10: Shen Jie as Pinocchio and Jin Yao as The Blue Fairy | Photographer: Tony Luk
Photo11: Hong Kong Ballet Soloist Arianne Lafita Gonzalvez, will dance the role of The Cricket
Photo12: Hong Kong Ballet Corps De Ballet Vanessa Lai, will dance the role of Cat
Photo13: Hong Kong Ballet Soloist Vittorio Galloro, will dance the role of Pinocchio
Photo14: Hong Kong Ballet Coryphée Leung chun Long, will dance the role of Pinocchio
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
[email protected]
