Cavalluna’s equestrian spectacular gallops into Hong Kong this September
With the rhythmic clip-clopping of 216 hooves, Europe’s most popular horse show Cavalluna arrives in Hong Kong for its Asia debut
Lights, music, 54 horses. Add a dash of spectacular acrobatics and a captivating storyline, and you’ll end up with one of the most exciting shows in town. Some might even say it’s the mane event of the season.
After wowing European audiences (more than nine million of them in more than 30 cities, apparently), Cavalluna – Gate to the Otherworld arrives in Hong Kong for a run of eight performances. Held at Kai Tak Arena from September 8 to 13, it’s fitting that the city gets an equestrian spectacle rocking up in the neigh-bourhood during the Year of the Fire Horse.
This immersive experience is produced by Andreas Eckert, and is written, composed and directed by Klaus Hillebrecht, who was nominated for an Emmy award for his compositions for National Geographic.
The story behind Gate to the Otherworld goes like this: Meerin, a young sorceress, has the gift of bringing drawings to life. Unfortunately, this talent leads to her exile. After being captured by the warlock Röndrup and his tricky niece, Meerin must confront dark forces and her inner shadows to reclaim her lost magic.
It behooves the Hong Kong Jockey Club to be the exclusive presenting partner and cultural host of the show. Besides running the city’s horse-racing tracks, the institution is behind most of its other equine-related events. In June, it transformed Penfold Park on the Sha Tin Racecourse into Pony World, giving it a second life as a horse-themed playground for young riders. Here, children aged three to 14 can go on supervised pony rides and learn how to care for these steeds. It’s a good spot to take little ones if they fall for the horses in Cavalluna.
Speaking of ponies, they are one of the more unusual aspects of Cavalluna. The animals are rarely used in equestrian shows as they are perceived as being difficult to train, but Gate to the Otherworld features two pony breeds. We hear one of them is only 65cm tall.
Overall, the show will feature eight distinctive breeds on one stage: Arabian horses from the Middle East; Friesian and Dutch Warmblood (aka KWPN) from the Netherlands; Pura Raza Española and Menorquín from Spain; Lusitano from Portugal; Welsh ponies from Wales; and Mini Shetland ponies from Scotland.