HBSO presents “Truyen Kieu” ballet at HCMC Opera House

A scene in the ballet "Truyen Kieu" by HBSO

The ballet is choreographed by Nguyen Tuyet Minh and Nguyen Phuc Hung; and performed by dancers, namely Tran Hoang Yen, Ho Phi Diep, Dam Duc Nhuan, Nguyen Minh Tam, Dang Minh Hien, Sung A Lung, and others.

The play features a unique combination of Western and Vietnamese techniques of ballet; a blend of semi-classical and folk music created by musicians Viet Anh and Chinh Ba.

The ballet “Truyen Kieu” (Tale of Kieu), which premiered at HCMC Opera House in June 2020, is one of the most successful performances of the HBSO, showing a combination of classical, contemporary ballet, and Vietnamese traditional arts.

Truyen Kieu is a unique work containing 3,254 verses which are divided into hundreds of short poems.

The literary masterpiece tells a tragic tale of a woman of great beauty and talent whose fate turns cruel moving backward in time. The young lady named Vuong Thuy Kieu is forced to sell herself to save her family, even though she is very learned. She overcomes many hardships in the lifelong pursuit of her doomed lover Kim Trong.

Truyen Kieu is a unique work that has created a ‘Kieu culture’ such as the telling of fortunes from a text of the Kieu story and writing of poetry inspired by the tragic life of Thuy Kieu.

It has the most number of translations in more than 30 languages.

Great poet Nguyen Du, also known as To Nhu and Thanh Hien, was born in 1765 to a noble family in Thang Long ( Hanoi ).

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) chose the great Vietnamese poet Nguyen Du among other world-famous personalities at its 37th General Assembly in Paris in 2013. He was also recognized by the World Peace Council as one of the world’s cultural celebrities in 1965.

Poet Nguyen Du has been recognized by UNESCO for his Truyen Kieu (Tale of Kieu), a masterpiece of Vietnamese classic epic poetry.