Why Hong Kong Ballet’s upcoming Nutcracker production is artistic director Septime Webre’s love letter to his adopted home

The Hong Kong Ballet has never been more accessible or its profile higher, and the company is set to wow the city with its upcoming production of The Nutcracker

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Amber Lewis (white) back row, from left: Zhang Xuening and Jessica Burrows at a rehearsal of Hong Kong Ballet’s The Nutcracker. Photo: SCMP/K. Y. Cheng

Natasha Rogai

Published: 10:15am, 5 Dec 2021

“Never standing still” is not only Hong Kong Ballet’s motto but a phrase that one person after another employs when asked about working with artistic director Septime Webre.

“It was written for me!” says Webre himself, with his characteristic hoarse chuckle. “It was a year or two before me, but it’s quite apt!”

I am watching him rehearse his new production of The Nutcracker, set to premiere at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre’s Grand Theatre, in Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon, on December 11. He is constantly leaping up and demonstrating for the dancers, going over and over every detail. “I like your long strides,” he tells soloist Yang Ruiqi as she runs towards her partner, “But you look like a footballer from Manchester United!”

When I interviewed Webre in July 2017, just after he began his Hong Kong Ballet tenure, talking to him felt like a greyhound chasing a hare, and more than four years on, the 59-year-old’s electric energy remains undiminished.

Webre (centre) at a rehearsal of The Nutcracker. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Animals characters for The Nutcracker by the Hong Kong Ballet. Photo: Hong Kong Ballet

As we sit in his cramped office overlooking the company’s Cultural Centre studio in mid-November, Webre says he has achieved one of his main goals – to make Hong Kong Ballet more connected to the city.