Close to 100 audience members enjoyed meaningful pre-performance talks at Hong Kong Cultural Centre before watching to the actual Carmen and More performances. Led by the Company’s Education & Community Outreach Manager Vency Kwok and Artistic Director Madeleine Onne on 26-27 May, the two 20-minute informative talks were conducted in Cantonese and English, respectively. 

During the first talk, Company dancers Vanessa Nok-sze Lai and Chun-long Leung openly shared personal anecdotes and insights about their experience throughout the production with the different choreographers. Participants learned more about the background of each work featured in Carmen and More as well as the production process, which helped enhance their understanding and appreciation of the overall performance.

The following day, Company choreographer Ricky Song-wei Hu spoke about his experience creating the Company’s original edition of Carmen with colleague Yuh Egami. As both are Hong Kong Ballet dancers and choreographers, they had some entertaining interactions with the other dancers during the creation process and in rehearsals. Ricky’s sharing gave the participants a fresh, behind-the-scenes perspective on the ballet’s choreography, music and production journey.