 |
|
Doing the robot: Dancer Cao Chi Thanh will perform. — File Photo |
HA NOI — Artists from the Viet Nam National Opera and Ballet (VNOB) and Viet Nam National Symphony and Orchestra (VNSO) will perform this weekend.
The show will feature the modern dance Linh Hon va Khat Vong (Soul and Desire), the well-known ballet Firebird and the symphony Nhung Ky Niem Que Huong (Memories of Homeland) by composer Hoang Duong.
Linh Hon va Khat Vong is choreographed by Pham Anh Phuong based on Spider's Thread by Japanese composer Yasushi Akutagawa.
The Spider's Thread is a 1918 short story by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, first published in the children's magazine Akai Tori. Akutagawa was known for piecing together many different sources for his stories, and The Spider's Thread is no exception.
His son, composer Yashushi Akutagawa wrote a ballet based on Spider's Thread in 1968. He was also a conductor who was taught composition at the Tokyo Conservatory of Music. As an educator, he devoted himself to training the amateur Shin Kokyo Gakudan or New Symphony Orchestra. Almost a year after Akutagawa died in 1990, the Akutagawa Composition award was established in his memory. Akutagawa and The New Symphony Orchestra are recipients of the 1976 Suntory Music Award.
Linh Hon va Khat Vong's inspiration is the philosophy of Buddhism that runs through Spider's Thread. People who perform good deeds in life can go to heaven, said Phuong.
The dance will be performed over 15 minutes and will feature 16 dancers including soloist Cao Chi Toan. Toan won the first prize at a national dance talent contest in 2008.
After a 15-minute interval, audiences will enjoy the one-act ballet Firebird.
Igor Stravinsky's score for the Firebird is noted for marking the transformation of ballet from classical to modernist form. Since its premiere in Paris 1910 by the Ballets Russes company it has continued to challenge the imagination of the choreographers worldwide.
The ballet is based on Russian folk tales which feature a magical glowing bird that is a blessing and a curse to its captor.
"In this version specially created for the VNOB, we have looked into how the movement and quality of the ballet is affected when the Stravinsky's tools of dramatic theatre are applied, "who is doing what, are what effect are they trying to have", said Swedish choreographer Lars Andersen.
"We have tried to enrich our version of the Firebird through a fusion with Vietnamese traditional art."
The ballet was performed in Sweden in 2007 by choreographer and director Harald Emgrard. "Swedish audiences enjoyed the performance because of the talent shown by the Vietnamese dancers," Phuong said.
Japanese Tetsuji Honna, principle conductor of the VNSO, will conduct the orchestra.
The programme begins at 8pm today and tomorrow at the Ha Noi Opera House. — VNS