I know it's a little late for this review, but Scala Ballet's A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of the best ballet performances I have ever seen.

The Teatro alla Scala Ballet Company (La Scala) is one of the world's best ballets. Its history is actually the history of ballet, which can traced back to the inauguration of the Teatro alla Scala in 1778 and the Scala school in 1813. Many of the world's most famous ballerinas such as Carlotta Brianza (the firt ballerina to dance Sleeping Beauty in 1890) were pupils of the school.

I guess I don't have to replete the story of this Shakespearian comedy, yet, George Balanchine (1904-1983), the choreographer of Dream had make some modifications for his production. The famous grotesque play Pyramus and Thisbe, usually performed by Bottom and his companies at the end of the comedy, is not performed in the ballet. Actually I was a bit disappointed because this is my favorite part of the play. The choreographer did what he did because he wanted to make the act of his production pure dance in neoclassical style, which was very successful.

I am not a professional ballet critic, all I can say is the production truly did exhibit the beauty of human bodies. I was so amazed by Hippolyta, an Amazonian warrior played by the senior principal dancer Isabel Seabra. She performed two series of Fouetté (a set of identical ballet movements, the ballerina can perform these turnings without moving an inch from the place she starts) in the first and final acts which requires both skills and complete confident. All the audiences in the Grand Theatre were stunned by her performance and gave her a big applause.

Dancer performing Fouetté en tournant

The ballet was wonderful, but the Theatre was poor. It was so poorly designed that I sighed every time I had to watch a show there. According to official information, the Grand Theatre is designed for “large scale operas, ballets, musicals, dances and all sorts of theatrical spectaculars”. The auditorium holds a total of 1,734 seats in three tiers. Can you imagine how tiny the Theatre is? And the stage is unbelievably small, the pops are all packed together during the performance.

Comparing to other international cities, Hong Kong is the most uncivilized place in terms of cultural development. It is not suggesting that there are no talented and passionate artists in the small island, but not enough social and government support. I have this feeling every time I step in Cultural Center.