The Hong Kong Ballet will make its Taiwan premiere at the end of next month with its new production of ALICE (in wonderland), which is headlining this year’s Hong Kong Week in Taipei.
However, with just two performances at the Taiwan Traditional Theatre Center, the tickets have been going fast, helped along no doubt by relatives of the 50 local ballet students recruited for background roles.
Hong Kong Ballet artistic director Septime Webre choreographed ALICE (in wonderland) for the Washington Ballet, which he led for 17 years. The show premiered at the Kennedy Center in Washington in April 2012 to rave reviews and since then has entered the repertoire of several other small US ballet troupes.
Photo courtesy of Conrad Dy-Liacco
Weber took up his post in Hong Kong in July last year, just over a year after he resigned from the Washington company, wanting to try something new.
For ALICE (in wonderland), Webre mixed storylines and characters from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, while his choreography is a mix of classical and contemporary ballet with a bit of puppetry.
He said he wanted each character’s personality to be reflected in their steps.
The ballet features an original score by Matthew Pierce, who will conduct the orchestra for the two Taipei shows.
The costumes, by Cirque du Soleil designer Liz Vandal, range from the whimsical to slinky to sheer fun, perfectly matching the stunning fashion-forward sets by James Kronzer.
■ Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 at 7:30pm at the Taiwan Traditional Theater Center’s Main Theater (臺灣戲曲中心大表演廳), 751 Wenlin Rd, Taipei City (台北士林區文林路751號).
■ The only seats left are for the Nov. 30 show and cost NT$2,400
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