Wednesday, November 08, 2017

‘Le Corsaire’ by Hong Kong Ballet

Attended Hong Kong Ballet’s ‘Le Corsaire’Choreographed by Anna-Marie Holmes with assistance and additional coaching from Julio Bocca, I thought the company put on a good show. I understood that many people emphasized on how much more expressive these performances were, and the company seemed to have progressed in terms of the quality of the dancers. (Not that I’m such an expert since I don’t follow Hong Kong Ballet.) The performances were accompanied by City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong.

This ballet has got a really silly storyline with the most annoying of plots and romances. Try to ignore how terrible the storytelling is. The costumes were expectedly colorful and the set was fun, but I was simply checking out the dancing. The performance I watched had Maria Kochetkova (guest principal dancer from San Francisco Ballet) as slave girl Medora and Wei Wei as pirate captain Conrad. Lovely lines there, and the choreography really shone.

In an interview with South China Morning Post published on 25 October 2017Anna-Marie Holmes told Hong Kong audiences, “This is not a ballet for deep feelings. Just go to the theatre, have fun, enjoy the bravura dancing — then go home and have a good meal!” It was exactly that- a lighthearted performance that made for a rather enjoyable evening out in town for this tourist.

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