Alice in Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Festival is on and last night we took the boys to see the English National Ballet perform Alice in Wonderland at the Cultural Centre. The building stands on Kowloon-side overlooking Hong Kong harbour from Tsim Sha Tsui and we took the Ferry there.

The Cultural Centre faces what is arguably one of the best views in the world and yet it has no windows, balconies or terraces from which to appreciate it. Could this be a reflection of the Chinese culture, that when there is so much to see and enjoy outside it remains stubbornly inward looking?

For me at least, the ballet represented a tiny oasis in a cultural desert although I did for a brief moment wonder what Lewis Caroll had been on when he conceived the idea of hookah smoking caterpillars and babies that morph into pigs. There were lots of families with young children there who, like us, had failed to get matinee or weekend tickets. Behind us three boys fell asleep early in the first act: one of them snoring gently throughout. As we got up to stretch our legs in the interval the circle was sprinkled with children curled up in their seats for whom the excitement of the White Rabbit and the Mad Hatter had just not been enough.

Ours did remarkably well. The four year old was transfixed by the dancing animals and laughed outright at the antics of mock turtle and gryphon. As we applauded the final act and the conductor emerged on stage the eight year old leaned towards me and said earnestly,
You know Mummy, the conductor looks like Wayne Rooney. If he was wearing Man U kit people might think Rooney is really clever.
Now there’s a thought.