Review | The American Ballet Theatre’s Hong Kong show Ballet Superstars of the Future impresses with emerging talent and great dynamics
- The ABT hasn’t been seen in Hong Kong since 2018 but its Studio Company, a training ground for emerging talent, came with an ensemble featuring 12 young dancers
- Highlights included Brady Farrar’s solo, and Royal Ballet School graduate Takumi Miyake shone alongside the technically skilled Madison Brown in Flames of Paris
The American Ballet Theatre (ABT), one of America’s top dance companies, last performed in Hong Kong in 2018.
This time ABT’s Studio Company, a training ground for emerging talent, was in the city with a diverse ensemble comprising 12 dancers aged between 16 and 21, most from North America and others from Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Brazil and Spain.
Performed at the Jockey Club Amphitheatre in the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, the show had high standards and high energy, with great group dynamics shown in the ensemble pieces.
That said, it’s tricky to review a programme called Ballet Superstars of the Future: Dancers as young as this are usually “works in progress” so it would have been helpful to know their ages to properly assess their performances.
Along with some well-known party pieces and two modern solos, the programme included three longer works created for the company.
Gemma Bond’s The Go-Between was a well-crafted neoclassical piece with the occasional moment of originality (I liked the sudden bursts of staccato footwork) – supposedly inspired by L.P. Hartley’s book, it had no discernible connection to it and felt bland overall.
The finale, Knife’s Edge by Houston Thomas, was a strong, dynamic piece which showcased the dancers’ technical skills.
A highlight was Takumi Miyake, a 19-year-old graduate of the Royal Ballet School, who brought down the house with huge, complex jumps and thrilling turns in the Flames of Paris pas de deux.
He was also electrifying in Daniel Ulbricht’s Tatum Pole Boogie, matching the dazzling piano of American jazz pianist Art Tatum.
Two young dancers who stood out were Sylvie Squires, 18, whose bright, fresh personality matched her dancing; and Brady Farrar, 17, who showed tremendous promise. They gave a charming account of Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux with Farrar also delivering a powerful solo performance in Aleisha Walker’s Do You Care?
Younger still, at just 16 (if the internet is right), Yeonseo Choi was elegant and technically assured, if perhaps a little nervous, in the pas de deux from Petipa’s Paquita, much helped by excellent partnering from Kayke Carvalho, whose beautifully finished solos showed fine classical style.
One of the most accomplished dancers was Madison Brown, who impressed with difficult turns in Flames of Paris, and shone in Knife’s Edge.
One disappointment was a duet from Kenneth MacMillan’s Concerto, where Kyra Coco and Finnian Carmeci focused too much on technical aspects, making the performance stilted and lacking the fluidity and expression of Dmitri Shostakovich’s music.
However, the programme featured a new piece, Notturno, by the company’s choreographer in residence Ricky Hu Songwei. A romantic duet set to Chopin, it was full of Hu’s characteristic intricate lifts and lyrical intensity and was danced beautifully by HKB’s Cheng Xuan and Yonen Takano.
Further local interest came in the form of Still I Rise, a heartfelt solo choreographed and performed by Feng Jingyi, set to a recording of Maya Angelou reading her famous poem with background music by Bach.
American Ballet Theatre Studio Company’s “Ballet Superstars of the Future”. Venue: HK Academy for Performing Arts, Jockey Club Amphitheatre. April 15
