HOLIDAY FAVOURITE - Classical ballet The Nutcracker will be restaged at the HCM City Opera House on December 9, 10 and 11 to welcome Christmas. Photo courtesy of HBSO

HCM City – The HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra (HBSO) will bring classical ballet The Nutcracker back on stage on December 9, 10 and 11 to welcome the Christmas season.

The ballet was originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Tchaikovsky.

Based on the story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by German author E.T.A. Hoffmann, the work describes the dream of a little girl Clara and her adventures with a nutcracker, a gift from her godfather.

The ballet was first performed at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1892, and has become a worldwide favourite during the Christmas season.

The Nutcracker premiered in HCM City in 2001 as part of the Transposition program by the government of Norway to bring classical music projects to Việt Nam. It was choreographed by Norwegian Johanne Jakhelln Constant.

VIETNAMESE TALENTS - Young dancer Nguyễn Thu Trang and Meritorious Artist Hồ Phi Điệp play Clara and the Nutcracker in the ballet. Photo courtesy of HBSO

The two-act work will highlight HBSO’s talented dancers Nguyễn Thu Trang as Clara, and Meritorious Artist Hồ Phi Điệp as the Nutcracker.

The performance will also feature Đỗ Hoàng Khang Ninh and Đàm Đức Nhuận, along with dancers from HBSO’s ballet department.

HBSO’s female choir and symphony orchestra will perform the ballet’s music under the baton of conductor Trần Vương Thạch.

Meritorious Artist Thạch, former director of the HBSO, studied at leading music schools and conservatories in Belgium and The Netherlands.

He has performed in many countries such as Germany, Italy, Scotland, Spain, France, Japan and Korea.

In 2020, he was granted the title Knight of Arts and Letters (Chevaliers des Lettres et des Arts) by the French government for his efforts to promote arts exchanges between Việt Nam and France.

The Nutcracker will begin at 8 pm at the Opera House at 7 Lam Sơn Square in District 1. Tickets are available at the venue. – VNS