Dancers from the Vietnam National Opera and Ballet on May 20 delighted Hanoi’s audiences with a live performance of “Graduation Ball”, a ballet premiered in Sydney, Australia 73 years ago.

The performance forms part of activities to mark the 40 th anniversary of the Vietnam-Australia diplomatic ties, said Australian Ambassador Hugh Borrowman.

Under the instruction of Australian renowned ballet dancer Colin Peasley and artists from the Australian Ballet, Vietnamese dancers told a frolicking story of young girls studying in a boarding school in Vienna in the 19 th century.

On this occasion, the Australian Ballet has permitted the Vietnamese artists to play the ballet for a year.

Colin Peasley, who retired last year from the Australian Ballet after a long and illustrious performing career, largely but not entirely with the national ballet company, has recently been awarded with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association.-VNA