Azernews.Az

By Laman Ismayilova

Australia will host a premiere of the Azerbaijani ballet Leyli and Majnun.

The ballet will be presented at the International Festival of Arts in Melbourne on October 10-13, Report.az informed.

The ballet will be choreographed by American Mark Morris. Famous mugham singer Alim Gasimov, his daughter Farghana Gasimova and Japanese legendary cellists Yo-Yo Ma are expected to attend the premiere.

Leyli and Majnun is a tragic love story, in which the male character Majnun (literally meaning "crazy" in Arabic) goes mad because he cannot be with his beloved Leyli.

The most popular version of this love story "Leyli and Majnun" was penned by Nizami Ganjavi (1141-1209), who lived and died in Ganja.

Leyli and Majnun is one-act ballet by Azerbaijani composer Gara Garayev. The libretto is written based on Nizami Ganjavi's poem.

Its premiere took place on May 25, 1969 at the Azerbaijan Opera and Ballet Theatre.

Melbourne International Arts Festival is a major international arts festival and a celebration of dance, theatre, music, circus, visual arts, multimedia, outdoor and free events held each October in a number of venues across Melbourne, Australia.

It was first established in 1986 by the Cain government as a sister festival of the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto and the Spoleto Festival USA held in Charleston, South Carolina.

The festival changed its name from the Spoleto Festival Melbourne to the Melbourne International Festival of the Arts in 1990, became known as Melbourne International Arts Festival from 2003.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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