China Arts and Entertainment Group and Hong Kong Ballet present the New York Premiere of The Butterfly Loversfrom August 22- 24, 2025 at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, 20 Lincoln Center Plaza. Performances: Fri & Sat at 7:30pm, Sat & Sun at 2pm. Tickets start at $39 and can be purchased online at here or in person at the David H. Koch Theater Box Office at 20 Lincoln Center Plaza.
An eternal love that defies all expectations. Reimagined by an international team of creative minds together with Hong Kong Ballet’s Choreographer-in-Residence HU Song Wei Ricky and MAI Jingwen, The Butterfly Lovers is a legendary Chinese folktale about humble scholar Liang Shanbo and aristocratic heiress Zhu Yingtai, who disguises herself as a boy in order to study at a prestigious academy. From innocently meeting as students and forging a strong, immediate bond to dangerously rebelling against centuries-old forces that threaten to keep them apart, the lovers face unexpected challenges at every turn, as secrets are revealed and a shocking family betrayal ultimately seals their fate.
With a sweeping original score by acclaimed Chinese composer TIAN Mi with New York City Ballet Orchestra under the baton of LIO Kuokman (The Philadelphia Inquirer as “a startling conducting talent”), this powerful tale of forbidden love and filial duty features Academy Award winner Tim YIP’s visually stunning sets and costumes that bring to life a world with traditional and modern elements. Transcendent and uplifting, The Butterfly Lovers is a glorious fusion of inspiring dance, contemporary Chinese aesthetics and eternal hope.
This production has won SIX major awards at the 26th Hong Kong Dance Awards in 2025 – Outstanding Choreography, Outstanding Large Venue Production, Outstanding Performance by a Female Dancer (CHENG Xuan as Zhu Yingtai), Outstanding Ensemble Performance, Outstanding Set and Costume Design (Tim YIP) and Outstanding Music Composition (TIAN Mi).
Creative team
Concept and Choreography: HU Song Wei Ricky
Libretto and Associate Choreographer: MAI Jingwen
Music: TIAN Mi (inspired by HE Zhanhao and CHEN Gang’s The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto)
Music and Orchestral Arrangement: ZHOU Chuhang, LUO Geng, ZHANG Qun, ZHANG Qiandan, ZHANG Boning
Set and Costume Design: Tim YIP
Design Supervisor: Jin YAU
Associate Costume Designer: Mandy TAM
Costume Design Assistant: LAI Wing Ki
Assistant Set Designer: Matthieu CHU Siu Ming
Set Design Assistant: Katie CHOW Tsz Wing
Video Design: William KWOK, Yicai WANG
Lighting Design: YEUNG Tsz Yan
Sound Design: Roy CHEUNG
Orchestra: New York City Ballet Orchestra
Conductor: LIO Kuokman
For more information, visit hkballet.com.
Artists
HU Song Wei Ricky graduated from Shanghai Dance School and then studied Contemporary Dance at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) on a full scholarship. He joined Hong Kong Ballet (HKB) in 2008, and was appointed Choreographer-in-Residence in 2019. His HKB commissions The Rite of Spring (2019) and The Last Song (2022) have earned him Outstanding Choreography at the Hong Kong Dance Awards. Other choreographic works include Notturno, Carmen, Bolero, Twins, White Lies, Demons and When u see. HU co-choreographed Everlasting Flower with his wife MAI Jingwen for the College of Dance at Shanghai Theatre Academy and Yi Yi for the Dance School of The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. He received the Award for Young Artist in Dance at 2012 Hong Kong Arts Development Awards. In 2025, HU and MAI Jingwen received the Outstanding Choreography Award at the 26th Hong Kong Dance Awards for their work on The Butterfly Lovers.
MAI Jingwen majored in Chinese Folk Dance at the School of Dance of Minzu University of China and then earned a Master’s degree in Public Performance at Joongbu University in Korea on scholarship. Her notable works include The Wall (Shanghai Opera House), Xi Yuan (Liaoning Ballet), Memory (Liaoning Song and Dance Troupe), Bolero (Shanghai Dance Theatre), Yi Yi (HKAPA), Everlasting Flower (Shanghai Theatre Academy), Never Resting Footsteps (High School Attached to the Hunan Normal University), Look up (National University of Singapore) and Blood Bird (Korean Arts Festival). MAI won First Prize at the National Arts Exhibition and National Outstanding Choreography Awards with her choreographic works Festival, Sunny Girl and Don’t Want to Say Goodbye. In 2025, MAI and his husband HU Song Wei Ricky received the Outstanding Choreography Award at the 26th Hong Kong Dance Awards for their work on The Butterfly Lovers.
TIAN Mi graduated from the Composition Department of Shanghai Conservatory of Music and has taught at his alma mater. His music creations span across various fields such as film, television, games and stage plays, having composed scores for multiple movies and TV dramas including Creation of the Gods, Full River Red and Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace. TIAN has also composed music for major events like the Beijing Winter Olympics and the CCTV Lantern Festival Gala. His works have won numerous awards, including the Hollywood Music in Media Awards, the China National Arts Fund and the Tencent GDC Artistic Achievement Award. Collaborating with many renowned artists, he stands as an iconic figure in the Chinese music industry. In 2025, TIAN received the Outstanding Music Composition Award at the 26th Hong Kong Dance Awards for his work on The Butterfly Lovers.
Tim YIP is a world-renowned stage and film art director, fashion designer and visual artist. He is the first person of Chinese descent to win an Academy Award for Best Art Direction and a BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. An internationally sought-after artist, he has collaborated with world-class artists and organizations, including Robert Wilson, Franco Dragone, Akram Khan, François Girard, Zhang Yimou, Stan Lai, Yang Liping, English National Ballet, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, Contemporary Legend Theatre, Legend Lin Dance Theatre, Han Tang Yue Fu, Tai Gu Tales Dance Theatre and U Theatre. Recently, YIP earned rave reviews for his stage and costume designs for François Girard’s production of Lohengrin at Bolshoi Theatre and the Metropolitan Opera. In 2025, Tim YIP garnered Outstanding Set and Costume Design Award at the 26th Hong Kong Dance Awards for The Butterfly Lovers.
YEUNG Tsz Yan is an award-winning lighting designer and has collaborated with major Hong Kong arts organizations and has designed for over 100 productions. Since winning her first Best Lighting Design Award at the 15th Hong Kong Drama Awards with Phaedra during her time at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, YEUNG has earned four more accolades in the same category with Iron (We Draman Group), Attempts on Her Life, Marriage and Le Père (Hong Kong Repertory Theatre). In 2012, her design for Two Swallows, Ode to Wu Guanzhong won the Outstanding Design for Dance at the 14th Hong Kong Dance Awards. She was selected to represent Hong Kong at Prague Quadrennial in 2011 and 2015.
LIO Kuokman is currently the Music Director and Principal Conductor of Macao Orchestra, Programme Director of Macao International Music Festival, Chief Conductor of RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and Resident Conductor of Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil). He has been praised by Philadelphia Inquirer as ‘a startling conducting talent’ and won second prize at the 3rd Svetlanov International Conducting Competition in Paris, with Audience Prize and Orchestra Prize. Having served as the first Chinese Assistant Conductor with the Philadelphia Orchestra, LIO has collaborated with many world-leading orchestras. Recent appearances include a HK Phil’s gala concert in the presence of China’s President Xi Jinping and his debut as the first Chinese conductor in a Vienna Symphony Orchestra concert.
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