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Ballet

Ballet
From Hong Kong to New York and beyond, find out what's happening in one of the most graceful and elegant - and punishingly hard to learn - forms of dance.
last updated:
9 September, 2024
The National Ballet of China performs The Chinese New Year, a version of The Nutcracker, with children from the US at the Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts in Washington on January 29. Photo: Xinhua
US-China relations

US lawmakers raise concerns about Chinese national ballet performance in Washington

Politicians say National Ballet of China performance at Kennedy Centre is part of the Communist Party’s political machinery’.

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Fame and celebrity

Meet Monica Barbaro, who plays Joan Baez in the new Bob Dylan biopic

Hong Kong economy

Letters | Hong Kong must give high-calibre talent a reason to come

Style Edit

Style Edit: Ferragamo celebrates 70 years of its signature ballet flat

The Italian maison kicked off the celebrations with a Ballerina Party on October 10, where Hong Kong film stars sported its latest clothing and handbag designs including new Vara ballet flats.

Hong Kong actress and model Louise Wong at the Ballerina Party on October 10 at Ferragamo’s Harbour City boutique. Photos: Handout
Performing arts in Hong Kong

Review | Hong Kong Ballet’s The Butterfly Lovers is a triumph of choreography

Created in-house, this version of the classic story blends ballet with Chinese dance, and has an incredible score and amazing choreography.

What to do in Hong Kong

5 of the best things to do this weekend in Hong Kong, October 18-20

From the Hong Kong Ballet to the Asian Film Festival and World Shochu and Awamori Festival, our pick of the best things to do this weekend.

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What to do in Hong Kong

5 must-see performances in Hong Kong this weekend, October 18-20

Our top five picks include performing arts shows as part of HKPAX, a new ballet and a concert featuring American jazz legend Wynton Marsalis.

A scene from Meeting In-Between Time, a City Contemporary Dance Company production at The Pokfulam Farm and one of the five best shows to see this weekend in Hong Kong. Photo: Yvonne Chan
Hong Kong

Inside Hong Kong Ballet’s dramatic reimagining of an old Chinese folk tale

As part of its 45th anniversary celebrations, Hong Kong Ballet has enlisted a who’s who of the creative world for its vivid interpretation of a classic folk tale.

Performing arts in Hong Kong

Crouching Tiger art director on his new Hong Kong Ballet project

Oscar-winner Tim Yip talks about designing the set and costumes for Hong Kong Ballet’s The Butterfly Lovers and his fascination with dance.

Fashion

How Hong Kong Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker changed this fashion designer

‘In fashion, people always think that Paris or New York are best, but one thing I always think we forget is our own culture,’ says fashion designer Mountain Yam

A scene from The Nutcracker by Hong Kong Ballet that features the Cheung Chau Bun Festival. Photo: courtesy Hong Kong Ballet
Performing arts in Hong Kong

Explainer | What’s on at HKPAX, Hong Kong’s performing arts ‘mega event’

Hong Kong Performing Arts Expo, meant to promote the city as a global hub of culture, will feature a week of dance, theatre and networking.

Hong Kong artists Anna Lo and Rick Lau will perform at HKPAX. Photo: HKPAX
Performing arts in Hong Kong

Review | Hong Kong Ballet’s The Wizard of Oz is a real spectacle for the family

The Wizard of Oz by the Hong Kong Ballet is big and bold, with special effects, spectacular designs and energetic dancing, but the music and story structure lack emotion.

Performing arts in Hong Kong

Profile | Hong Kong dancer so good she skipped a step on way to ballet’s top tier

Tirion Law talks about her surprise promotion to principal dancer of the National Ballet of Canada and her upcoming Hong Kong performance with another of the city’s international stars, Lam Chun-wing.

Performing arts in Hong Kong

Hong Kong Ballet artistic director on ‘over the top’ The Wizard of Oz

The Wizard of Oz has been a favourite of Septime Webre since his childhood. His version of the tale of Dorothy and her friends for Hong Kong Ballet leans towards the ‘outrageous’, he says.

A scene from Septime Webre’s ballet The Wizard of Oz. Photo: Brett Pruitt & East Market Studios
Performing arts in Hong Kong

Bronte, Bizet, Nureyev, TS Eliot at Hong Kong Arts Festival 2025

Carmen as it was originally staged, Wuthering Heights as music theatre, Andras Schiff and his chamber orchestra, and rarely heard Beethoven are among highlights of the 2025 Hong Kong Arts Festival.

Director Emma Rice’s music theatre version of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights is among highlights of the 2025 Hong Kong Arts Festival. There are treats for opera, ballet and classical music fans too, and a hip hop version of TS Eliot’s The Waste Land. Photo: courtesy of HKAF
Icons and Influencers

Hong Kong-born designer Alain on how Alainpaul’s Joyce debut is a homecoming

The brand’s co-founder Alain talks dance, bending the rules, and the influence of the late Louis Vuitton artistic director Virgil Abloh

Fashion

Romeo and Juliet changed her life – qipao designer on the power of ballet

Contemporary qipao brand Qipology founder Julie Liu talks to the Post about watching the ballet Romeo and Juliet when she was around 10 and wanting to be a fashion designer because she liked the costumes.

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Performing arts in Hong Kong

Review | Swan Lake lead dancers stunning, but Hong Kong Ballet production has flaws

Ye Feifei has never danced the Odette/Odile role better, and guest dancer Matthew Ball was her ideal foil, in Hong Kong Ballet’s new Swan Lake. But the production is marred by some questionable choices.

Ye Feifei, as Odette, dances with Matthew Ball, as Prince Siegfried, in Act 2 of Hong Kong Ballet’s new production of Swan Lake on May 31, 2024 at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Grand Theatre. Photo: Conrad Dy-Liacco, courtesy of Hong Kong Ballet
Fame and celebrity

Who is Benjamin Millepied, Natalie Portman’s ex-husband – and did he cheat on her?

After months of media speculation about Natalie Portman and Benjamin Millepied’s marriage being strained, the pair have officially called it quits – here’s what you need to know about him

Are ballet dancers anorexic? Insiders bust myths, describe them as athletes

Ballet dancers are both artists and athletes, insiders say, and ballet similar to a competitive sport. That dancers are thin is a consequence of their training, not anorexia, they explain.

Books and literature

‘Do you get aroused?’ A retired dancer aims to demystify ballet

David McAllister, former principal dancer with The Australian Ballet, and its longest serving artistic director, helps people peek behind the curtain with his new book, ‘Ballet Confidential’.

David McAllister performing in Harald Lander’s “Etudes”. The former principal dancer with The Australian Ballet, and its longest serving artistic director, peeks behind the curtain with his new book, “Ballet Confidential”. Photo: David Parker
China-Russia relations

China-Russia cultural bond flourishes with ballet, theatre and music

Amid flurry of performances in China, Russia looks to be seen in a positive light in the face of Western condemnation over the Ukraine invasion: analysts.

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Russian performance companies, such as the Eifman Ballet Company of St Petersburg, pictured, are increasingly appearing in China amid boycotts and sanctions in the West. Photo: Handout
Fame and celebrity

Who is Mick Jagger’s 36-year-old girlfriend and baby mama, Melanie Hamrick?

Mick Jagger has eight kids with five different women – so who is his current girlfriend and baby mama to his youngest child? Here’s what we know about Melanie Hamrick

Performing arts in Hong Kong

Profile | ‘I wanted to create’: Hong Kong Ballet choreographer Ricky Hu on his calling

Ricky Hu Songwei, Hong Kong Ballet’s award-winning choreographer-in-residence, talks to the Post about studying in in China and New York and finding his artistic voice after switching to choreography.

US-China relations

American Ballet Theatre ‘excited’ about return to China in November

‘For us, it’s a joyful experience,’ says artistic director Susan Jaffe, on the company’s first visit to the country since 2013.

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The American Ballet Theatre’s artistic director Susan Jaffe, who was a principal dancer when the company performed in China in 2000. The ABT last visited the country in 2013. Photo: Rosalie O’Connor
Performing arts in Hong Kong

How is the Hong Kong Ballet bringing dinosaurs to life? Collaborator explains

Hong Kong Ballet’s new production, Sam and her Amazing Book of Dinosaurs, leans into digital technology to bring the story to life – one of the show’s collaborators explains how.

A scene from “Sam and her Amazing Book of Dinosaurs”. The Hong Kong Ballet’s new production leans into digital technology to bring the story to life. Photo: Hong Kong Ballet
Books and literature

50 Shades of Grey meets ballet in Mick Jagger’s partner’s steamy debut novel

Melanie Hamrick’s new erotic fiction book First Position delves into the sex-filled world of ballet and was inspired by 50 Shades of Grey and Black Swan.

United States

‘Epic and intimate’ Like Water for Chocolate ballet opens in New York

As the ballet adaptation of Laura Esquivel’s 1989 novel Like Water for Chocolate opens in New York, choreographer Christopher Wheeldon talks about its challenges and the purpose behind his work.

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