HCM CITY — The HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO) will stage the classical ballet Giselle at the Opera House on September 21 and 22.

The two-act Giselle was written by French dramatist and novelist Theophile Gautier and playwright Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges, to music by composer Adolphe Adam.

The ballet tells the story of a young peasant girl, Giselle, who dies of a broken heart after discovering her lover, Albrecht, has promised to marry someone else.

The Willis, a group of ghostly spirits of dead girls who died from broken hearts, have the ability to control men and let them dance until they die. They target Albrecht, but Giselle defends him with the power of her great love.

Giselle, which was choreographed by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot, was first performed by the Paris Opera Ballet in 1841.

The performance of Giselle in HCM City will be directed by French dancer and choreographer Chloe Glemot and Japanese dancer Yuki Hiroshige, who will also play the roles of the leaders of the Willis.

Dancers Đỗ Hoàng Khang Ninh and Hồ Phi Điệp will play the leading roles of Giselle and Albrecht.

Glemot was trained at the Paris Opera Ballet School between 1996 and 2003. She worked as a professional dancer for the American Ballet Theater in New York, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in Montreal, and English National Ballet in London.

In 2006, she completed her teacher training at the Centre National de la Danse in Paris. She has taught ballet for children and adults at conservatories and schools in Paris.

Hiroshige began practicing ballet at the age of 11. She studied at Australian Ballet School beginning in 1993. She worked as a solo dancer at the New National Theatre in 1996, and later performed at the Noriko Kobayashi Ballet Theater in 2005.

Glemot and Hiroshige played the roles of the Snow Queen and Dewdrop in The Nutcracker at the Opera House last December.

The performance of Giselle will begin at 8pm. The Opera House is at 7 Lam Sơn Square in District 1. Tickets are available at the venue and at www.tickebox.vn. — VNS