The ballet La Sylphide is the oldest ballet performance to be staged at the Sofia Opera House and will be modernized for the first time in the history of ballet performing.

The ballet by Lyuveskold is opening the theatre season with a reduced performance at the Gala Ballet Concert Night on Friday. La Sylphide was introduced during the period of romantic ballet and now young and talented performers will innovate the dance. Maria Ilieva, prima with the Sofia Opera House and director of its ballet troupe, will dance the part of the Sylphide, a supernatural creature who is loved and inadvertently destroyed by a mortal man.

The choreography, created by young ballet dancers, exploits the use of toe dancing to emphasize the prima's otherworldly lightness and insubstantiality. "La Sylphide inspired many changes in the ballets of its past - in theme, style, technique, and costume," said Ilieva.

The originally Danish ballet is in typical Danish style on stage in the Sofia Opera House. Dina Byuri, one of the experts of Danish ballet, has been invited to work with the Troupe and create a modern and innovative La Sylphide. The modern style includes music by the Yugoslavian composer Goran Bregovich and the choreography will belong to Anna Pampulova.

Ilieva said that another element of the gala performance, La Sylphide's successor Giselle, also contrasts the human and supernatural worlds. This is why the prima of the ballet troupe and director at present decided to start the new season with this particular performance. She explained that the romantic ballet is well accompanied by Giselle.

The music for Giselle by Adolphe Charles Adam has a continuity that sets the stage for more modern ballet works and is suitable for the non traditional outline of the whole project for the Gala Ballet Night.

"We needed some new form of expression at the Opera House and that is the reason to make a selection of things which are not staged at the Sofia Opera House," Ilieva said. She added that all of the excerpts included in the concert are quite intriguing and gather on stage a variety of characters with strong individualities. According to the experienced prima, the emphasis at the concert will be on the attraction of the young and not so famous names.

Another ballet piece by Verdi will be performed by the dancers from the Ballet Troupe of the Sofia Opera House, including the different periods of the development of ballet arts. Romeo and Juliet by Prokofiev as well as Evgeni Onegin will be soloed by promising unknown ballet dancers who are debuting, said Ilieva. Mona Lisa and Bourgeoisie will be both soloed by the famous Bulgarian prima Vesa Tonova- Krastanova and Trifon Mitev. Authentic music and original pieces by Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Jacque Brel and Piazolla will also be played.

On Saturday, there will be performances of Maskani, Rossini and Verdi's arias, with the participation of Italian, French and Czech opera singers.

The performances of both days will be at 6pm.