Dancers Phan Van Luong and Dam Han Giang in The Firebird ballet. Courtesy Photo of VNOB. (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - Dancers from the Vietnam National Opera and Ballet (VNOB) willperform The Firebird ballet in a contemporary style featuringVietnamese folk dance at Hanoi Opera House on March 15-16.
The Firebird by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky was first performed inParis in 1910. The composer’s score for The Firebird is noted formarking the transformation of ballet from classical to modernist form.
The ballet is based on Russian folk tales which feature a magical glowing birdthat is a blessing and a curse to its captor. What The Firebird hadwas a magical power, which he offered to serve a prince who had captured him,in return for the bird’s freedom. The prince went on to fall in love with oneof a gaggle of young princesses, all of whom offered a playful performance.
Enter the bad guys, led by the Tyrant, who proceeded to plunder the princesses.The prince called on the Firebird to intervene in this clash between good and evil before peace and order were restored.
The Firebird has challenged the imagination of the choreographers ofdifferent tradition and styles across the years. The Vietnamese version waschoreographed by Swedish Lars Andersen under cultural co-operation between Vietnamand Sweden.
"The work combines three styles of ballet, modern and folk dances,"said leading dancer Phan Van Luong, who plays the Firebird. "ThisSwedish-Vietnamese version of The Firebird kept with the theme oftraditional Vietnamese aesthetic and minimalism."
The Vietnamese version features the leading role played by a ballet dancer andnot a ballerina as in the original. Luong was selected to replace the leadingballerina to act the Firebird days before the dance premiered about ten yearsago.
The Firebird is a part of the annual show by VNOB which also includesextracts from Gioachino Rossini’s The Barber of Seville; ChristophWillibald Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice; CharlesGounod’s Faust; Bedřich Smetana and Johann Strauss.
The concert features opera singers Manh Dung, ThanhBinh, Bui Trang and thechoir of VNOB under the baton of Japanese conductor Hiroshi Kutoba. Tickets aresold from 300,000 VND (13 USD) to 600,000 VND at the opera house’s boxoffice.-VNA
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