[ENG] REVIEW: HONG KONG BALLET 45TH ANNIVERSARY INTERNATIONAL BALLET GALA

Text: Natasha Rogai

Hong Kong Ballet (HKB) celebrates its 45th anniversary this year and marked the occasion with international guest stars joining the home team for a gala performance.

Gala programmes are inevitably a curate’s egg.  If there were a few blips on the radar, this one still offered much to enjoy with some outstanding dancing from the guests and HKB’s own artists in works which ranged from gala staples like the Black Swan and Don Quixote pas de deux to three pieces by Balanchine and extracts from ALICE (in wonderland) by HKB’s artistic director Septime Webre.

Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux; Dancers (from left): Iana Salenko, Daniil Simkin /

Honorary Photographer: Tony Luk (Photo provided by Hong Kong Ballet)

Black Swan pas de deux from Act 3 of Swan Lake;

Dancers (from left): Daniil Simkin, Iana Salenko /

Honorary Photographer: Tony Luk (Photo provided by Hong Kong Ballet)

The most spectacular dancing of the evening came from Iana Salenko and Daniil Simkin, who opened the show with a sparkling account of Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky pas de deux and came back after the interval with a breathtaking Black Swan. Ideally matched in style, physique and temperament, they delivered an immaculate blend of dazzling virtuosity and true artistry.  Classical ballet at its very best.

Tarantella; Dancers (from left): Emma Von Enck, Albert Gordon /

Photographer: Conrad Dy-Liacco (Photo provided by Hong Kong Ballet)

More thrilling dancing came from Emma von Enck, recently promoted to principal at New York City Ballet, who gave an exemplary display of Balanchine style and her company’s trademark scintillating footwork in Tarantella and the pas de deux from Rubies, bringing out the contrast in these two very different pieces to excellent effect.   She was well partnered by HKB’s Albert Gordon in Tarantella and Shen Jie in Rubies.  Both clearly revelled in dancing with this exceptional ballerina and brought precision, style and brio to their own solos.

ABC; Dancer: Victor Caixeta /

Photographer: Conrad Dy-Liacco (Photo provided by Hong Kong Ballet)

Eric Gauthier’s ABC, a solo featuring a comic alphabet of dance terms, was performed with wit and charm by Victor Caixeta, who also partnered his former colleague Maia Makhateli of Dutch National Ballet (Caixeta is now freelance) in the wedding pas de deux from Don Quixote.  Complete with one-handed lifts and imposslbly long-held balances from Makahteli, this duly brought the house down, although Caixeta’s solos were somewhat low-key and I’d have enjoyed Makhateli’s fouettés more if she hadn’t travelled so far across the stage she nearly fell into the orchestra pit.  Too many ballerinas no longer seem to feel their fouettés should be done on the spot, which is in fact the whole point: if you can’t turn doubles and triples without travelling, stick to singles.  It was good to see Salenko do hers in the Black Swan the way they are supposed to be done.

The Dying Swan; Dancer (left): Maia Makhateli /

Honorary Photographer: Tony Luk (Photo provided by Hong Kong Ballet)

Two Shanghai Ballet principals, Qi Bingxue and Xu Jingkun, danced an attractive pas de deux by Wu Husheng set to Debussy’s Clair de Lune, in which Xu was particularly impressive.  It’s hard to escape The Dying Swan in galas - it was an odd choice for Makhateli, a virtuoso rather than a lyrical ballerina, but the audience enjoyed it and having the piano and cello on stage (the only live music all evening) was a nice touch. 

Grand pas Classique; Dancers (from left): Ye Feifei, Constantine Allen /

Honorary Photographer: Tony Luk (Photo provided by Hong Kong Ballet)

On the home front, the Act 1 pas d’esclave from Le Corsaire was danced with elegance and lovely clean finishing by Wang Qingxin and Garry Corpuz.  In another gala staple, Gsovsky’s Grand Pas Classique, Ye Feifei showed off her grand classical port de bras and steely technique, ably partnered by Dutch National Ballet’s Constantine Allen. 

The Flamingo Scene from ALICE (in wonderland); Dancers (from left): Ye Feifei, Ryo Kato /

Photographer: Conrad Dy-Liacco (Photo provided by Hong Kong Ballet)

Ye also danced the Eaglet in the Flamingo scene from Alice (in wonderland), with Ryo Kato producing some impressive jumps as the Dodo and good work from the corps de ballet in this tongue in cheek take on Swan Lake.  The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party was less successful despite the energy the dancers put into it and neither of these extracts worked well taken out of context.  Alice may have been a convenient choice as it’s currently in rehearsal for a tour to Beijing, but there are other Webre ballets which would have showcased both his own abilities and HKB’s dancers better in a gala setting.

HONG KONG BALLET 45TH ANNIVERSARY INTERNATIONAL BALLET GALA

Date: 25 October 2024

Venue: Cultural Centre, Grand Theatre

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Natasha Rogai

was born in London and has lived in Hong Kong for more than 20 years. She is the dance critic of the South China Morning Post and a recipient of the Hong Kong Dance Award for Services to Dance.