Hong Kong Ballet will become the first resident performing arts company at West Kowloon Cultural District’s new WestK Performing Arts Centre, marking a major step toward the venue’s planned opening next year.
The partnership will give the company a permanent base for rehearsals, creation and performances, while one of its first major productions at the venue will draw inspiration from one of Hong Kong’s most recognizable cultural icons — Bruce Lee.
WestK Performing Arts and Hong Kong Ballet announced on Monday that the company would regularly stage productions and activities at the new center, which is expected to begin opening in summer 2027.
Among the inaugural programs will be the world premiere of Bruce Lee: Hong Kong Legend, a large-scale original ballet inspired by Lee’s life, philosophy and enduring influence on popular culture around the world.
The production is scheduled to run between September and October 2027 and will form part of the Performing Arts Centre’s opening season.
Hong Kong Ballet will become the first resident arts company at the WestK Performing Arts Centre when it opens next year, and will stage the new original large-scale ballet Bruce Lee: Hong Kong Legend.
Hong Kong Ballet will become the first resident arts company at the WestK Performing Arts Centre when it opens next year, and will stage the new original large-scale ballet Bruce Lee: Hong Kong Legend.
The choice of Bruce Lee brings an unmistakably Hong Kong identity to the venue’s first major programs. Rather than presenting his story through martial arts alone, the production will reinterpret his physicality, philosophy and cultural legacy through contemporary ballet.
West Kowloon Cultural District Authority chief executive Betty Fung Ching Suk-yee said interior fitting-out work at the centre was under way and that the authority was confident its Grand Theatre could open by next summer.
West Kowloon Cultural District Authority chief executive Betty Fung Ching Suk-yee.
The center is designed to accommodate two to three resident arts companies, but Fung said WestK was not in a rush to fill all the available residency slots.
She noted that rehearsal space remained in high demand among local arts groups and said facilities at the center would also be made available for rental to other Hong Kong companies.
Under the arrangement with Hong Kong Ballet, the two sides have entered into an initial three-year tenancy with the possibility of extending it for another three years.
WestK expects the ballet company to stage its major productions at the new center, while also developing classes and activities that make use of the venue’s public spaces. It also plans to discuss taking Bruce Lee: Hong Kong Legend on tour internationally after its Hong Kong premiere.
More than 1,000 square meters within the center’s dance facilities will be reserved for the company, including three dance and rehearsal studios and a physiotherapy room.
The wider Performing Arts Centre will have a gross floor area of about 42,000 square meters.
Its venues will include a 1,450-seat Grand Theatre, a 600-seat Medium Theatre, a 270-seat Studio Theatre and a 148-seat performance and exhibition space.
Dance facilities will occupy about 4,846 square meters in total, creating a substantial new hub for rehearsal, production and performance within the West Kowloon Cultural District.
The arrival of Hong Kong Ballet as the center’s first resident company also gives WestK a clearer artistic identity ahead of its opening.
While future resident companies could come from Hong Kong, the mainland or overseas, the authority said its immediate priority was not to fill every slot, but to make sure the venue remained accessible to the wider local performing arts community.
marco.lam@singtaonewscorp.com
