Albania, Kosovo stage ‘Graduation Ball’ ballet

TIRANA, March 13 – Four months after taking over as the new director of the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet, Ilir Kerni has choreographed “The Graduation Ball”, a one-act ballet to music composed by Johann Strauss II. The ballet which comes as Albanian-Kosovo cooperation will stage for three consecutive evenings with Albanian soloist performing on March 14 and 15 and Kosovo dancers concluding the event on March 16.
Ilir Kerni, 59 a professional ballet dancer who spent most of his career as a soloists in Croatia, was appointed the director of the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet in October 2013, replacing maestro Zhani Ciko.
“The ballet, in one act, is set in a fashionable Viennese finishing school for girls during the 1840s. The headmistress has invited the cadets of the city’s military academy to attend a ball celebrating the graduation of the senior class. The senior and junior girls have planned a series of divertissements as the evening’s entertainment and are greatly excited by the event. Flirtations, exuberant dances, and a secret romance ensue.”