How Hong Kong Ballet’s ‘The Rule Breakers’ is making ballet more experimental and innovative

The provocative and rule-bending production, which incorporates everything from accidents to electronic music, shows that the art form isn’t just about damsels, fairies and swans

Once upon a time, ballet was mainly the entertainment for the French court and Russian royalty. Iconic productions such as Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker dazzled generations of theatregoers with their romantic star-crossed-lovers plots, elegant movements, and beautiful sets and costumes.

But then three choreographers from different eras—George Balanchine (1904-1983), William Forsythe (1955-) and Andonis Foniadakis (1971-)—subverted the traditional dance form completely, by challenging the gender roles in ballet, reinventing the usual formula of groups and duet arrangements, and more.

Now, the Hong Kong Ballet’s artistic director Septime Webre has compiled a production that puts together three ballet pieces, one each from of the three above-mentioned choreographers. The production titled The Rule Breakers runs from March 22 to 24 at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and features the dance form at its most experimental and innovative.

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Above From left: Gao Ge and Alexander Yap in “In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated” (Photo: courtesy of SWKit and Hong Kong Ballet)

The production begins with Balanchine’s 1936 piece Serenade. Set to Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings in C, Op. 48 from 1880, it was the choreographer’s first full-length ballet in the US, and he revised it extensively until 1976. Unlike The Nutcracker and Swan Lake that he grew up with, Webre says Balanchine “stripped away the storyline, sets and costumes, the pantomime and the weight of a European royalty but retained the central classical ideals and structure of [19th century ballets] in a streamlined modernist way”. It was said that he added mishaps like an accidental fall to his piece to show his philosophy of “using what you’ve got”.

In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated was made 50 years later by Forsythe in 1987 for the Paris Opera Ballet. “It blew the roof off the theatre when it first premiered,” says Webre. “It is ballet, but it’s so urban, so aggressive, so forceful and so powerful.” Pointe shoes, which had been a representation of romance, are “weaponsied” in aggressive movements. The women and men were portrayed as equal and at times competitors. The steps were androgynous. Forsythe also introduced a change to ballet’s hierarchical symbolism. “The principal dancers [in the 19th century] were a metaphor for the Tsar and Tsarina who led the quarter ballet. In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated breaks that down. You’ll still see soloists coming out of the group, but it’s much more egalitarian,” Webre explains. “Forsythe’s legacy extends the language of ballet and prepares it for the 21st century in a way that’s urban and forceful.”

Above “Serenade” (Photo: courtesy of Cheung Wai Lok and Hong Kong Ballet)

Meanwhile, Foniadakis has pushed the creative boundary of ballet even further with Strangelove, which will have its world premiere at this Hong Kong Ballet performance. The choreographer uses music by Depeche Mode, an English electronic music band formed in Essex in 1980, which he grew up listening to. “It’s a fantastic group producing fantastic music. It’s an iconic group from the 1980s. They’re still [active], and have left one of the most amazing songs to be remembered. So, I mean, why not?” This isn’t the first time he has chosen something other than classical music for his ballet; two years ago, he worked with American singer songwriter Active Child to create music for a ballet piece for The Royal Ballet of Flanders in Belgium.

Webre adds that Strangelove has also unshackled the usual formula of groups and duet arrangements and gender dynamics in ballet. “Men partner with men, women dance with power, and there is a kind of frenetic organised chaos,” Webre says.

Photo 1 of 3 Septime Webre (Photo: courtesy of SWKit)

Photo 2 of 3 Andonis Foniadakis (Photo: courtesy of Peter Grieg)

Photo 3 of 3 Yonen Takano (Photo: courtesy of Lee Wai Leung)

Hong Kong Ballet’s soloist Yonen Takano, who will be performing in all three pieces, says the rehearsals, which started last September, have been a fun challenge. “Each choreographer has his own interpretation of the music, but I have to copy [the choreographer’s] experience of the music [with my body movements]. With contemporary music, there’s no rule. It’s not Tchaikovsky. It’s not like there’s a certain note I can follow. I have to feel how [Foniadakis and the other dancers] feel,” says Takano.

The team’s rule-breaking spirit doesn’t end with The Rule Breakers. Next up, Webre says he wants to rework ballet’s storytelling. “The rule has been that ballet is something elite and intrinsically Eurocentric. But I believe that the ballet language can talk to the current human condition. So we’re making ballets about Hong Kong and commissioning works that speak to the world around us in very specific, everyday ways. Unlike the vulnerable women that needed protection in the 19th century, the way women are depicted can be complex,” he says. “These are the rules that we’re breaking. We want to show that ballet can be about us.”

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How Hong Kong Ballet’s ‘The Rule Breakers’ is pushing ballet’s boundaries by subverting traditional gender roles, innovating with music and more