"Ghosts", released at the end of 19th century, is considered one of Ibsen's most controversial works, with its razor-sharp criticism of traditional morals. This time, the age-old classic is transfigured into a searing balletic production. With each vigorous leap and unapologetic glide, ballet dancers dauntlessly address social taboos such as incest and religious tyranny, which are still worth pondering today.

Directed by Ibsen specialist Marit Moum Aune and with choreography by Cina Espejord, the production effectively recruits everyday movements and subverts conventional dance sequences to depict the power struggles between the sexes while multi-level sets ingeniously interweave characters' past and present selves to counterpoint the realism with a more chimerical mood.

The debut performance of "Ibsen's Ghosts" in Norway in 2014 received wide acclaim, and the work won the Critics' Award in Norway for best choreography in the same year.

Founded in 1958, the Norwegian National Ballet is the only classical ballet company in Norway. Besides classics like "Swan Lake", "Sleeping Beauty" and "The Nutcracker", the company's repertoire covers works by the international masters like Jiří Kylián and William Forsythe.

The Norwegian National Ballet has 61 dancers, a second company with 15 young dancers and a ballet school. It tours both in Norway and around the globe, with recent visits to St Petersburg, Shanghai, London, Berlin and Paris. The Norwegian National Ballet will perform "Ibsen's Ghosts" in Hong Kong soon after making its debut in Moscow with "Hedda Gabler". Both Ibsen ballets are signature works of the Norwegian National Ballet.

"Ibsen's Ghosts" is one of the programmes of the World Cultures Festival 2019 - The Nordics. It will be staged at 8pm on November 1 and 2 at the Kwai Tsing Theatre Auditorium. Tickets priced at $220, $360, $440 and $580 are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk). For credit card telephone bookings, please call 2111 5999.

Organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, the World Cultures Festival 2019 - The Nordics will run from October 18 to November 17. For programme enquiries and concessionary schemes, please call 2370 1044 or visit www.worldfestival.gov.hk