The Leisure and Cultural Services Department will launch a new lecture series on appreciating ballet entitled "Great Masters & the Classics" from August to October. Hosted by local ballet educator Margaret Lau, the lecture series will introduce classic ballet works by a number of legendary choreographers, and guide audiences to appreciate their iconic choreographic styles through sharing video excerpts of these masterpieces.
Ballet classics created by renowned choreographers, such as Mikhail Fokine, George Balanchine, Frederick Ashton, Kenneth MacMillan and John Neumeier, have shaped the evolution of ballet. Many of these masterpieces are still in the repertoire of ballet companies around the world and remain popular. In this series of eight lectures, nearly 20 ballet excerpts in different styles have been selected from which audiences will be guided to appreciate the dance scenes, expression techniques, dance movements, character portrayals and styling, as well as the fusion of traditional and contemporary elements, etc, that are finely crafted by the masters. Audiences will also be able to appreciate the performing styles of famous ballet companies of other places and the superb skills of dancers.
The date of each lecture and the works covered are as follows:
Lecture 1
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Date: August 20 (Tuesday)
Repertoires: "Giselle" and "Pas de Quatre"
Video clips: The Royal Ballet (United Kingdom), Bolshoi Ballet (Russia), English National Ballet (United Kingdom), National Ballet of China (China), Mariinsky Ballet (Russia), Staatsballett Berlin (Germany) and more
Lecture 2
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Date: August 29 (Thursday)
Repertoires: "Swan Lake", "Illusions Like Swan Lake" and "LAC"
Video clips: Paris Opera Ballet (France), Royal Swedish Ballet (Sweden), The Hamburg Ballet (Germany), Bayerisches Staatsballett (Germany), Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo (Monaco) and more
Lecture 3
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Date: September 5 (Thursday)
Repertoires: "Les Sylphides", "Le Spectre de la Rose", "Firebird" and "Apollo"
Video clips: Mariinsky Ballet (Russia), Paris Opera Ballet (France), New York City Ballet (United States), The Royal Ballet (United Kingdom) and more
Lecture 4
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Date: September 12 (Thursday)
Repertoire: "Romeo & Juliet"
Video clips: Stuttgart Ballet (Germany), The Royal Ballet (United Kingdom), The Royal Danish Ballet (Denmark), Korean National Ballet (Korea), Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo (Monaco) and more
Lecture 5
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Date: September 19 (Thursday)
Repertoires: "Don Quixote" and "Notre-Dame de Paris"
Video clips: Paris Opera Ballet (France), Dutch National Ballet (the Netherlands), Teatro alla Scala Ballet (Italy), The Royal Ballet (United Kingdom), Mikhailovsky Ballet (Russia) and more
Lecture 6
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Date: September 26 (Thursday)
Repertoires: "Spartacus" and "Mayerling"
Video clips: Bolshoi Ballet (Russia), Korean National Ballet (Korea), The Royal Ballet (United Kingdom), The National Ballet of Canada (Canada) and more
Lecture 7
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Date: October 3 (Thursday)
Repertoires: "A Month in the Country" and "Manon"
Video clips: The National Ballet of Canada (Canada), The Royal Ballet (United Kingdom), Birmingham Royal Ballet (United Kingdom), Paris Opera Ballet (France) and more
Lecture 8
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Date: October 10 (Thursday)
Repertoires: "The Nutcracker", "The Nutcracker Sweeties" and "Chinese New Year"
Video clips: New York City Ballet (United States), National Ballet of China (China), Birmingham Royal Ballet (United Kingdom), Bolshoi Ballet (Russia), The Royal Ballet (United Kingdom) and more
Margaret Lau is a seasoned dance critic in Hong Kong. She has travelled to attend and cover dance performances worldwide. She has hosted this lecture series on ballet appreciation since 2009 to share her experience and knowledge with audiences, and enhance their interest in appreciating ballet performances. Her published works include "Passions for dance: Chapter 1 & 2", "Twinkle Twinkle Dance Stars" and "Chinese Ballet Sketches".
All lectures will be conducted in Cantonese and will take place at 7.30pm at AC2, 4/F, Administration Building, Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Tickets priced at $65 (for each lecture, with free seating) are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk). For telephone bookings, please call 3166 1288. For programme enquiries and concessionary schemes, please call 2268 7323 or visit https://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/dance/programs_1755.html.
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