A scene from Kim Ji-ahn Ballet Company’s production of “The Devil’s Turn Paganini II,” which will be staged as part of the upcoming 5th annual Ballet Festival Korea from June 4 to 28. (Seoul Arts Center)

From the ballet version of Shakespeare’s classic tale “Othello,” to the contemporary retelling of Hesse’s struggle between the world of light and illusion in “Demian,” the upcoming fifth annual Ballet Festival Korea promises to be a feast for all tastes.

This year’s festival will open its curtains on June 4 at the Seoul Arts Center and is slated to highlight 16 performances throughout the month by 15 local ballet companies -- from the top production houses to all the independently run, small-scale ballet organizations from across the nation.

Aside from classic programs such as the Korean National Ballet’s repertoire of “Swan Lake” and the Universal Ballet’s rendition of “La Bayadere Gala,” this year’s festival will mainly feature a large number of relatively new and more modern dance productions.

Park Sangchul Ballet Company’s rendition of “Othello” -- a classic Shakespearean tale of a man succumbing to lies and manipulations that lead him to murder the love of his life -- as well as Baek Youngtae Ballet Lyubov’s interpretation of the German-original “Demian” -- the story of Emil Sinclair in his pursuit for self-realization amid the struggles against the forces of good and evil -- are merely two of the festival’s highlight contemporary repertoires.

“As ballet continues to progress, as it has in the past 15 to 20 years, more and more productions are dipping their toes into the trend of creating more artistic and modern dance productions,” said Kim In-sook, chairwoman of the Korea Ballet Festival, during a press conference held at the Hotel President in Seoul on Tuesday.

“It is important for us to give these productions an opportunity to grow and reach wider array of audiences,” she continued.

A scene from Baek Young-tae Ballet Lyubov’s production of “Demian,” which is slated as part of the upcoming 5th annual Ballet Festival Korea from June 4 to 28. (Seoul Arts Center)

“Every year we try to raise the quality and standard of the festival. When it came to decide what productions should be featured as part of our program, we assembled a judging panel that critiqued and rated all the potential repertoires based on a number of criteria including artistic merit, technique and overall dance philosophy.”

Along with the array of contemporary dance productions, this year’s festival will also offer both ballet fans and novices a very rare opportunity to see performances by the nation’s top ballet companies -- Korean National Ballet, Universal Ballet and Seoul Ballet Theatre -- for free at SAC’s Shinsegae Square’s Outdoor Stage.

The free outdoor performances will feature three productions on separate nights: SBT’s “Bravo! Modern Ballet,” KNB’s “KNB Ballet Gala” and Universal’s “La Baydere Gala.”

The upcoming festival will include five special educational events for willing participants including a 90-minute ballet learning class with respected ballerina Kim Ji-young, a ballet stretching tutorial and a Q&A event where audience members can speak with a number of the festival’s choreographers.

The fifth annual Ballet Festival Korea will be held in various SAC theaters including the Opera Theater, CJ Towol Theater and the Jayu Theater.

Ticket prices vary according to the venue. For more information on scheduling and pricing, visit www.befeko.com.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)