Fancy: Dancers from the HCM City Ballet and Symphony Orchestra and Opera rehearse for The Nutcracker, to be staged tomorrow at the Opera House. — Photo Courtesy HCM City Ballet and Symphony Orchestra

HCM CITY (VNS)— The famous ballet, The Nutcracker, will be staged by the HCM City Ballet and Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO) for three nights in HCM City, beginning this Sunday.

The ballet, first performed in Russia in 1892, has two acts. It was originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a musical score provided by the legendary Tchaikovsky.

It was adapted from The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, a story by German author ETA Hoffmann.

The ballet is based on the dream of the little girl Clara and her adventures with a nutcracker, a gift from her godfather.

The Nutcracker has grown in popularity since the mid-20th century and is now performed by ballet companies worldwide, especially during the Christmas season.

The choreographer is Norwegian Johanne Jakhelln Constant, the art director of the Moving Art Theatre in Bodo, Norway. She worked with HBSO to premiere the ballet in HCM City last year.

This time she and her peer, Norwegian conductor Magnus Loldgard of the Ensemble NeoN, have worked with HBSO musicians.

The two-act work will feature ballet stars like Diem Trang (played Clara), Ho Phi Diep (Prince), Minh Tu (Snow Queen), and Duc Nhuan (Hr. Drosselmeyer).

A graduate of Oslo's Fagerborg Dance School and the Stockholm Dance University, Constant has a master's degree in performance from Iowa University in the US.

She has worked with famous ballet teachers like Francoise Martinet, Fernando Bujones, Laura Alonso, and Edward Ellison.

She has spent many hours a day with her Vietnamese assistants, choreographers Ta Quang Hung, Nguyen Phuc Hung and Diep, to reinvent the performance, both in choreography and staging.

Performances are at 8pm on November 9 and November 16 and 18 at the Opera House, 7 Lam Son Square, District 1.

The Norway Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Norwegian Embassy and Music Information Centre Norway all sponsored the event.

Tickets cost VND250,000 (US$11), 350,000 and 500,000, and are available at the theatre. —VNS