Hong Kong Ballet

One of the premier classical ballet companies in Asia, Hong Kong Ballet is becoming internationally recognised as a top institution that represents Hong Kong’s unique character. Since 1979 Hong Kong Ballet has evolved into a vibrant performing arts organisation with accomplished dancers and a strong repertoire composed of a range of stunning, technically challenging productions.

The Company’s artistic team of over 40 dancers is led by Artistic Director Madeleine Onne. The dancers, of nine different nationalities, come from Asia, Europe and North America. In recent years the Company has won recognition from the public and from significant institutions in the ballet world, receiving the 2015 Hong Kong Dance Award for its Outstanding Ensemble Performance in Don Quixote and two nominations for the Prix Benois de la Danse, held annually in Moscow at the Bolshoi Theatre in 2014.

Hong Kong Ballet’s repertoire includes full-length ballets, the finest classical and neo-classical works of the 19th to 21st centuries, acclaimed contemporary ballets, as well as abridged classic productions tailor made for children. The Company regularly commissions works from today’s most sought-after choreographers such as Alexei Ratmansky, Jorma Elo, Cynthia Harvey, Fei Bo, Yuri Ng, Wang Xin Peng, Terence Kohler, Peter Quanz and Kinsun Chan.

Hong Kong Ballet has conducted more than 30 tours to 10 countries. Recent tours include the appearance at the renowned Fall for Dance Festival in New York, the Company’s début in Japan by the invitation of Architanz, a second appearance at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in USA and two performances at the newly renovated Northrop Auditorium in Minneapolis, USA in November 2014, garnering critical acclaim. The Company embarks on an exciting international tour throughout Ontario, Canada and to New York City in March this year.

The Company’s Education and Community Outreach Department collaborates with the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for many programmes, which bring the art of ballet to students and the wider community of Hong Kong. Their endeavours were recognised in 2014 with the Hong Kong Dance Award for Outstanding Achievement in Youth and Community Dance. Hong Kong Ballet’s unique character embodies the dynamic vitality of its home city. The Company is proud of its past and is excited about the bright future ahead as one of Hong Kong’s prominent performing arts groups.

Artistic Director: Madeleine Onne

Born in Stockholm, Madeleine Onne has established herself as a formidable artistic force to be reckoned with in the international dance world. One of Sweden’s leading ballerinas, Madeleine became renowned for her engaging style and dramatic talent. As Principal Dancer of the Royal Swedish Ballet from 1984 to 2002, she danced major roles in almost all classical repertoire as well as MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet and Manon, Cranko’s The Taming of the Shrew and Onegin, Neumeier’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and ballets by Balanchine, Cullberg, Goh, Kylián, Robbins, Tudor and Béjart. Before joining Hong Kong Ballet in 2009, she was Artistic Director of Royal Swedish Ballet for six years.

Madeleine is passionate about every aspect of ballet, on and off stage. During her dancing career she sat on a number of the Swedish government’s committees responsible for awarding grants to the arts, and was also appointed to the board of the Carina Ari Foundation, which awards scholarships to young Swedish dancers wishing to study abroad. In 1996 she founded an off-shoot of the Royal Swedish Ballet, Stockholm 59 Degrees North, which toured during the Royal Swedish Ballet’s summer break. The company, featuring 15 of the Company’s best soloists, presented Swedish and international contemporary choreography. It has won critical acclaim ever since its spectacular debut at the prestigious Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts in 1997. Since she stopped dancing, Madeleine has been much in demand as a jury member for international ballet competitions across Europe as well as in Russia, the USA, Cuba, Canada, South America, Japan, Korea and China.