Caravaggio /
Hong Kong Arts Festival /
March 7 – 9 2026 /
Grand Cultural Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre /
Roberto Bolle shows no signs of slowing down. The widely celebrated Italian ballet maestro has a packed schedule this year, from performing McGregor / Maillot / Naharin at Milan’s La Scala Theatre to showcasing his contemporary ballet fusion Roberto Bolle and Friends at Verona’s iconic Arena, where he just performed as a part of the Winter Olympics closing ceremony. Next up, he’s coming to Hong Kong, where local audiences will see him essaying the titular role of the Baroque Master in Mauro Bigonzetti’s Caravaggio.
Growing up in Italy, Bolle was no stranger to Caravaggio’s art. “He’s always been one of my favourite painters and I was always fascinated and moved by his work,” says the dancer. He adds that he was particularly amazed by the three paintings on display in Rome’s Church of St Louis of the French, The Calling of Saint Matthew (1599-1600), The Inspiration of Saint Matthew (1602) and The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew (1599-1600).
Bolle was particularly fascinated by the artist’s legacy. “He influenced everyone who painted after him, and his use of light to create shadows and beauty changed the course of art history.” Caravaggio’s mark is unmistakable; the canvases reflect his patented diagonal composition, use of chiaroscuro– further pronounced through tenebrism, creating a spotlit effect– and powerful sense of drama.
The signifiers of Caravaggio’s paintings become the supporting characters in Bigonzetti’s eponymous ballet, with the roles of Light, Dark and Beauty performed by Maria Khoreva, Anastasia Matvienko and Ekaterine Surmava respectively. For Bigonzetti, the canvas spills out onto stage; Caravaggio’s theatricality is visible in the show’s sets and production, courtesy of Carlo Cerri, who is responsible for the lighting and sceneography. A large wooden frame hangs in the background, while the lighting is used not only to highlight the dancers but also to replicate the impact of Caravaggio’s paintings.
The Italian painter was also known for his tormented, at times grotesque depiction of saintly figures and heavenly beings, conveying humanity’s darker side. Bolle saw one such example at Rome’s Palazzo Barberini last year, in an exhibition featuring 24 of the baroque legend’s masterpieces. In Caravaggio’s iconic Judith Beheading Holofernes (1599), the artist paints a scene from the biblical story of Judith, who seduced and beheaded the Assyrian general Holofernes in order to save her people. While the story has been interpreted by many masters throughout art history, from Botticelli to Gentileschi, Caravaggio’s version is unusual, in that he fixated on the beheading. He astutely captures the moment when the protagonist’s knife slashes the general’s throat, blood visibly gushes out of his neck and his face squirms with anguish.
Caravaggio’s own life was as turbulent as his paintings: he was notorious for over-indulgence, anger and violence. In a particularly scandalous encounter, he apparently murdered one Ranuccio Tommasoni over a dispute and had to escape Rome in order to avoid a death sentence.
For Bolle, it was refreshing to enact a part that harnessed such violence. “There aren’t many roles that allow you to access the darkest part of yourself. Usually [I’m] always portraying very positive characters, so it’s been both interesting and challenging to play a character like him, especially because he’s so different from me.”
He adds that more than any other factor, it’s the choreography that reveals the darkest facets of the character. The tension-filled textures of his paintings, made visible by furious gestures inflicted on the canvas, translate into powerful, expressive moves that also embody much of the torment, pain and angst Caravaggio seemed to hold.
Yet it’s the softer moments in the show that are the dancer’s favourites. The first is “a very calm, tender sequence” between Caravaggio and Beauty. The second part is a male duet between Caravaggio and a man who is possibly his lover. “It’s extremely intimate and sensual, an aspect of his life that’s lesser known,” Bolle says.
The score by Bruno Moretti complements the choreography’s theatrical crescendos and decrescendos. It also sonically recreates the baroque era, with Moretti adapting the melodies of composer Claudio Monteverdi, Caravaggio’s contemporary, including excerpts from his operas L’Orfeo and The Coronation of Poppea.
Through theatrical storytelling, heightened drama and visceral tension, Bigonzetti and Bollepromise to deliver a spectacle as captivating as the canvases their Italian predecessor produced almost five centuries ago.
香港藝術節：《卡拉瓦喬》
2026年3月7日至9日，香港文化中心大劇院
舉世知名的國寶級意大利芭蕾舞者羅伯特 · 波雷可說銳不可擋。本年的巡演時間表已排得密密麻麻，從米蘭的史卡拉歌劇院演出《麥格雷戈／邁約／納哈林》，到維羅納競技場呈獻現代芭蕾融合作品《羅伯特．波雷與芭蕾群星之會》，早前還於同一場地為冬季奧運閉幕典禮演出。下一站，他將親臨香港，為本地觀眾帶來舞劇《卡拉瓦喬》。劇目由意大利當代編舞家莫羅．比戈哲提創作，主角是巴羅克畫派的同名先驅，由波雷擔演。
波雷於意大利長大，對卡拉瓦喬的藝術作品自然毫不陌生。他說：「卡拉瓦喬是我向來最喜歡的畫家，我為他的作品入迷和動容。」最令波雷驚艷的作品，於羅馬聖王路易堂展示，三幅組畫分別名為《聖馬太蒙召》（1599-1600年）、《聖馬太靈感》（1602年）和《聖馬太殉教》（1599-1600年）。
波雷對卡拉瓦喬的傳世作品尤為著迷。「後世畫家無不受他影響，他以光線創造陰影與美感，改變了藝術的歷史。」卡拉瓦喬的筆法別樹一幟，畫布反映了獨一無二的斜線構圖和明暗對比，以強化暗處的手法營造出聚光燈一樣的畫面，呈現強烈的戲劇感。
編舞家比戈哲提取材卡拉瓦喬作品中的象徵元素，讓光明、黑暗和美成為劇中人物，三個角色分別由瑪麗亞．科列娃、阿娜斯塔西亞．馬特維延科，以及艾卡特琳娜．蘇爾馬瓦飾演。對比戈哲提而言，畫布延展至舞台，所以在舞台設計和製作方面均展現出卡拉瓦喬的戲劇性，這些都是卡洛．齊里在燈光與場景設計上的功勞。舞台後景掛著大型木框，燈光不僅用來突出舞者，也讓觀眾近距離感受卡拉瓦喬畫作的震撼力。
卡拉瓦喬是巴羅克油畫的傳奇人物，他亦以他筆下的聖人和天界眾生見稱，這些形象時而痛苦、時而詭異怪誕，展現出人性的黑暗面。去年，這位大師的24件傑作於羅馬巴貝里尼宮展出，波雷便是在展覽中看到此類作品。經典的《友弟德斬首荷羅浮尼》（1599年）中，描繪了聖經故事中，友弟德為了拯救族人，不惜色誘亞述將軍荷羅浮尼，並將其斬首。在藝術史上，多位大師均曾以此為題，包括波提切利、真蒂萊斯基等，但只有卡拉瓦喬的版本專注於斬首一幕，令其與別不同。畫中主角以刀劃過將軍喉嚨，將軍的脖子湧出鮮血、面容扭曲，卡拉瓦喬令痛苦的瞬間敏銳捕捉、活靈活現。
卡拉瓦喬的一生也如作品一樣大起大跌，生活放縱、脾性火爆和行為暴戾都令他惡名遠播。在其中一段風波中，他因為口角殺了拉努喬奧．托馬索尼，不得不畏罪避走羅馬以逃離死刑。
波雷認為，能夠在舞台上演出如此暴力的場境，是耳目一新的體驗：「沒有很多角色可以讓你深入自己最陰暗的一面。我所飾演的角色大多以正派為主，所這次演出既有趣又富挑戰性，尤其我和卡拉瓦喬真的南轅北轍。」
波雷補充，編舞對於呈現角色陰暗面功不可沒。卡拉瓦喬以剛烈的筆觸在畫作中展現張力質感，這些力量轉化為台上有力而充滿感情的舞蹈動作，同時體現出卡拉瓦喬內心所承受的折磨、痛苦和焦慮。
然而，布雷最喜愛的卻是舞劇中的細膩時刻。首先是卡拉瓦喬和「美」之間一段平靜、溫柔的舞步。另外一場是兩位男士對舞，對手或許是卡拉瓦喬的愛人。布雷說：「這段非常親密和感性，是卡拉瓦喬鮮為人知的一面。」
布魯諾．莫雷蒂的配樂與編舞一同表達出各種高低起跌，以音效上重現巴羅克時期，這些音樂取材自與卡拉瓦喬同期的作曲家蒙特威爾第，包括歌劇《L’Orfeo 》和《The Coronation of Poppea》的選段。
比戈哲提與波雷以戲劇化敘事、緊湊情節和揪心的緊張感，創作出引人入勝的視覺盛宴，震撼力不亞於卡拉瓦喬這位意大利畫家近500年前的油畫佳作。