Hong Kong, first international tour of the year with La Bella Otero and Invocación

On Friday, February 27^th, the Ballet Nacional de España will begin its first international tour of the year in Hong Kong. The Grand Theatre of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre will host La Bella Otero and Invocación, two mixed programs in which the different styles of Spanish dance can be appreciated through choreographies by various creators.

The first program to be presented will be La Bella Otero. Choreographed by Rubén Olmo and premiered in 2021, it offers a journey through the main stages of her eventful life.

After touring several cities in Spain and abroad to an excellent reception from audiences, La Bella Otero will be presented in Hong Kong with Noelia Ruiz, dancer of the Ballet Nacional de España, embodying the young Otero, while Maribel Gallardo, special collaborator, will portray the protagonist in her maturity.

La Bella Otero is a large-scale production that transports audiences back in time to discover the life story of the most desired dancer of the Belle Époque. Rubén Olmo, choreographer and current director of the company, has placed dance at the service of the story in order to narrate the life of Carolina Otero, a woman who reinvented herself after a tragic event in her childhood, triumphed as an artist and courtesan, and ended her life alone and ruined by gambling.

In Invocación, the second program to be presented in Hong Kong, audiences can enjoy, in the words of the BNE director, “flamenco full of life and strength on stage, a ballet of the purest stylized dance, and one of the few recent choreographies in the escuela bolera style.”

The show opens with Invocación bolera, an updated take on the style presented by Rubén Olmo, with music by Manuel Busto and castanet staging by Maribel Gallardo. It is followed by Jauleña, a solo by Rubén Olmo inspired by Granada, in which the granaína and zapateado take center stage. The first part of the show closes with Dualia, a choreography by Rojas and Rodríguez that approaches Spanish dance with the youth and freshness of this knowledgeable generation of dancers, seeking complicity in partner dancing and interpreting the sensuality of gesture.

After the interval, the Ballet Nacional de España’s flamenco ensemble of singers and musicians joins the dancers on stage to pay tribute to one of the bailaores and choreographers who renewed flamenco dance in Andalusia: Mario Maya (1937–2008). De lo flamenco. Tribute to Mario Maya is a flamenco suite that reflects Maya’s innovative personal style, composed of seven movements. The BNE’s production adds two new choreographies to the original, created by two of Mario Maya’s regular collaborators: Rafaela Carrasco and Isabel Bayón, who have created Romance del emplazado and Taranto, respectively.

The company has almost sold out the tickets for the five performance dates.

BALLET NACIONAL DE ESPAÑA
Grand Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre

Program:

LA BELLA OTERO
Friday, February 27^th, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, February 28^th, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 1^st, 2026, 4:00 p.m.

INVOCACIÓN
Tuesday, March 3^rd, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 4^th, 2026, 7:30 p.m.

Tickets on sale at:
https://www.hk.artsfestival.org/en/programme/Ballet-Nacional-de-Espana-La-Bella-Otero?

https://www.hk.artsfestival.org/en/programme/Ballet-Nacional-de-Espana-Invocacion?