News, On Stage

Hong Kong Ballet presents the US Premiere of Romeo + Juliet

December 13, 2022

Story by blanksite2

Image courtesy of Hong Kong Ballet.

Hong Kong Ballet (HKB) presents the U.S. Premiere of Romeo + Juliet on Friday, January 13 at 8pm and Saturday, January 14 at 2pm and 8pm at New York City Center, 131 W. 55th Street (between Sixth and Seventh Avenues) NYC. Tickets begin at $35 and can be purchased online at nycitycenter.org, by phone at (212) 581-1212, or in person at the New York City Center Box Office.

Ancient grudges and warring families. Passion and tragedy. The iconic balcony scene. Shakespeare’s timeless tale of star-crossed lovers has captivated audiences for generations and is given a fresh and thought-provoking retelling in Septime Webre’s new Romeo + Juliet. Set in 1960s Hong Kong with designs incorporating mid-twentieth century Hong Kong street life details, this epic love story captivates with vivid dancing, complex drama, sumptuous cheongsams and iconic scenes from the tragic tale. With Webre’s original choreography accompanied by Prokofiev’s dramatic score and intense martial arts fight scenes, this brilliantly imagined adaptation is especially relevant for contemporary audiences as it fuses dance and drama against a backdrop of a world in flux.

“Transposing the action from medieval Italy to 1960s Hong Kong is an ingenious idea which serves the dual purpose of appealing to the local audience while offering a uniquely Hong Kong product for international tours. Visually the production is stunning.” — South China Morning Post

Images courtesy of Hong Kong Ballet.

One of Asia’s premier ballet companies, Hong Kong Ballet (HKB) is internationally recognized as a world-class institution which represents Hong Kong’s unique character. Since its inception in 1979, HKB has evolved into a vibrant performing arts organization with a dynamic repertoire, forward-thinking community engagement initiatives and an emphasis on excellence. Septime Webre joined HKB as its Artistic Director in July 2017.

With nearly 50 dancers from all over the globe—Hong Kong, Mainland China and other parts of Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Europe and throughout North America—HKB has won recognition both regionally and internationally. HKB’s repertoire includes celebrated re-stagings of the classics, neo-classical masterworks by George Balanchine, original full-length works created for HKB and an award-winning series of ballets for young audiences. In addition, 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, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa as well as dynamic new works by HKB’s Choreographer-in-Residence Hu Song Wei Ricky, Yuh Egami, as well as numerous emerging Hong Kong choreographers.

With almost 50 tours to 11 countries, HKB most recently toured Europe, Mainland China and the US, at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival and in New York at the Joyce Theatre and the renowned Fall for Dance Festival. In addition to its performances on stage at home and abroad, HKB maintains a full schedule of community engagement initiatives throughout Hong Kong to ensure the art of ballet is accessible to all. Since its debut in 2020, the HKBALLET@HOME online channel has garnered over 2 million views, connecting with ballet lovers across the globe.

Romeo + Juliet

Romeo: Alejandro Virelles (January 13), Taras Domitro (January 14)

Juliet: Ye Feifei (January 13), Xuan Cheng (January 14)

Juliet’s Mother: Wang Qingxin

Juliet’s Father: Wei Wei (January 13), Yonen Takano (January 14)

Juliet’s Amah: Zhang Xuening (January 13), Yang Ruiqi (January 14)

Tai Po*: Garry Corpuz (January 13), Alexander Yap (January 14)

Little Mak*: Chun Long Leung (January 13), Albert Gordon (January 14)

Benny: Jonathan Spigner (January 13), Kyle Lin (January 14)

Romeo’s Sifu: Ethan Chudnow (January 13), Garry Corpuz (January 14)

*Some character names are adapted:
Tybalt → Tai Po
Mercutio → Little Mak

Choreography: Septime Webre