Scheherazade/Chopiniana – The Abay Kazakh State Opera and Ballet Theatre

Kazakhstan’s oldest theatre, the Abay Kazakh State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, is embarking on major international tours during the 2019/20 season and making its UK debut with the one-act ballets Chopiniana and Scheherazade. Michel Fokine’s search for new forms was expressed in Chopiniana, a work that grew out of his frustration with traditional ballet. At the time it was revolutionary for its cross-cutting actions, unity of music, choreography and scenography, and abundant narratives depicting Chopin’s life and work. The piece was later renamed Les Sylphides. Fokine went on to transmit his unlimited sense of form to Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, which embraces erotic and non-classical balletic movement. The new piece raised eyebrows yet became wildly successful.