Ballet
The original ballet adaptation of Scheherazade premiered on June 4, 1910, at the Opéra Garnier in Paris by the Ballets Russes. The choreography for the ballet was by Michel Fokine and the libretto was from Fokine and Léon Bakst. The Ballets Russes' Scheherazade is known for its traditionally dazzling costumes, opulent scenery, and erotic choreography and narrative which was rarely seen in ballets of the time.
At the time of its original creation, Paris was in the final years of the Belle-Époque period. Translated, “Belle-Époque” means “beautiful era”, and was a period of industry and optimism in which “the pursuit of pleasure supposedly eclipsed social, economic, and political concerns.”[14] Orientalism was at the height of its vogue in Europe and Ballets Russes sought to bring the East (or the Westernized stereotype) to the West so audiences could live out their exotic fantasies without fear of social consequences. This ballet provoked exoticism by showing a masculine Golden Slave, danced by Vaslav Nijinsky, seducing Zobeide, danced by Ida Rubinstein, who is one of the many wives of the Shah. Nijinsky was painted gold and is said to have represented a phallus and eroticism is highly present in the orgiastic scenes played out in the background. Controversially, this was one of the first instances of a stage full of people simulating sexual activity. Nijinsky was short and androgynous but his dancing was powerful and theatrical. Scheherazade flipped conventions of classical ballet through the redirection of audiences’ focus from the grace and beauty of female bodies to male prowess and sensuality.[15] As opposed to classical ballets of the time, the choreography of Scheherazade included more sensuous movements including body waves, and closer contact. The Golden Slave also incorporated more rippling and slower, sultry movement as opposed to the large, jump and turn heavy male solos audiences were used to seeing in classical ballets.
When the Shah returns and finds his wife in the Golden Slave's embrace, he sentences to death all of his cheating wives and their respective lovers. It is rumored that in this death scene, Nijinsky spun on his head. The ballet is not centered around codified classical ballet technique but rather around sensuous movement in the upper body and the arms. Exotic gestures are used as well as erotic back bends that expose the ribs and highlight the chest. Theatrics and mime play a huge role in the story telling.
Scheherazade came after Petipa's Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty, which were ballets strongly focused on classical ballet and technique. Fokine embraced the idea of diminished technique and further explored this after Scheherazade when he created Petrouchka in 1912. He went on to inspire other choreographers to throw away technique and embrace authenticity in movement.
Bakst, who designed the sets and costumes for Scheherazade, viewed the stage as a three-dimensional landscape in which dancers, sets, and costumes were all of equal importance.[16] He had a big influence on interior design and fashion of that time by using unorthodox color schemes and exotic costuming for the ballet. In his costuming for Scheherazade, he focused on highlighting the movements of the body through his ornate, “histrionic” costumes.[16]
The ballet’s performance and reception in Paris is said to have changed the course of ballet. The Ballets Russes premiered in Paris as the conservative theatres of Russia would not support or approve of the portrayal of such risqué ideas, but in Paris it was a hit.[17] Like many of the Ballets Russes’ ballets, Scheherazade drew in audiences from far and wide. Its costume and scenic designs even inspired and influenced fashions in years to come.
Rimsky-Korsakov's widow protested against what she saw as the disarrangement of her husband's music in this choreographic drama.[18]
Contemporary ballet adaptations
Alonzo King – LINES Ballet (2009)
Alonzo King’s reimagining of Scheherazade was commissioned in 2009 for the Monaco Dance Forum Festival’s centennial celebration of the Ballets Russes. King collaborated with composer Zakir Hussain for the score which incorporates traditional Eastern instruments with melodies of Rimsky-Korsakov’s original symphonic suite.[19]
Contrary to the narrative of the original ballet, in which Scheherazade is just the narrator of the story of Shahryar and Zobeide, Alonzo brings the character of Scheherazade to the forefront of the ballet. She, rather than Zobeide, becomes the principal female character. However, King abstracts the narrative in such a way that his “choreographic focus was not on the details of the Arabian Nights narrative, but the symbolic meaning of Scheherazade.”[20] In King’s version, Shahryar and Zobeide’s doomed marriage and the instigator of the thousand and one nights, as narrated by Scheherazade, is no longer the focal plotline. Rather, King focuses on Shahryar’s final relationship with Scheherazade herself and the development of his love for her through her storytelling.
King is known for his boundary pushing, long-lined, dynamic movement aesthetic which is exemplified in Scheherazade. In many of his works, King also seeks to “represent global cultures through dance by collaborative ventures with non-Western movement forms.”
Alonzo King – LINES Ballet (2009)
Alonzo King’s reimagining of Scheherazade was commissioned in 2009 for the Monaco Dance Forum Festival’s centennial celebration of the Ballets Russes. King collaborated with composer Zakir Hussain for the score which incorporates traditional Eastern instruments with melodies of Rimsky-Korsakov’s original symphonic suite.[19]
Contrary to the narrative of the original ballet, in which Scheherazade is just the narrator of the story of Shahryar and Zobeide, Alonzo brings the character of Scheherazade to the forefront of the ballet. She, rather than Zobeide, becomes the principal female character. However, King abstracts the narrative in such a way that his “choreographic focus was not on the details of the Arabian Nights narrative, but the symbolic meaning of Scheherazade.”[20] In King’s version, Shahryar and Zobeide’s doomed marriage and the instigator of the thousand and one nights, as narrated by Scheherazade, is no longer the focal plotline. Rather, King focuses on Shahryar’s final relationship with Scheherazade herself and the development of his love for her through her storytelling.
King is known for his boundary pushing, long-lined, dynamic movement aesthetic which is exemplified in Scheherazade. In many of his works, King also seeks to “represent global cultures through dance by collaborative ventures with non-Western movement forms.”[21] Scheherazade is no different, as exemplified by the very grounded movement, reminiscent of that of some Middle Eastern dance styles, that juxtaposes his typical aesthetic within the ballet.
Jean-Christophe Maillot – Les Ballets de Monte Carlo (2009)
Artistic Director of Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, Jean-Christophe Maillot, reinterpreted Fokine’s Scheherazade in 2009; the same year Alonzo King premiered his work. Maillot’s adaptation premiered at the Grimaldi Forum Monaco.[23]
Maillot pulled much inspiration from the original staging and choreography of Fokine’s ballet as it was set on the Ballets Russes. His biggest inspiration was the music itself: Rimsky-Korsakov’s symphonic suite of the same name.[23]
His choreography honors that of the original ballet in its sensuous waves and ripples, as well as its narrative. However, it is also modernized with contemporary, almost jazz-influenced, movements for both male and female characters.
The sets and costumes were designed by Jerome Kaplan. They incorporate some elements directly from the original designs of Leon Bakst, but also strip some away. Both mix ornate and more streamlined designs depending on the characters and settings for the scenes. Maillot combines traditional and modern aesthetics to create a “spectacle” that transcends time.[23] Where in the original ballet, most of the costuming was ornate no matter the character, Kaplan distinguishes between the characters of more importance through brighter color palettes and more intricate designs while the costumes for the corps are simplified.
Others
Sergei Prokofiev wrote a Fantasia on Scheherazade for piano (1926), which he recorded on piano roll.
Song of Scheherazade is a 1947 Universal Picture in which the lead actress, Yvonne De Carlo, was also the principal dancer. The plot of this film is a heavily fictionalized story, based on the composer's early career in the navy. He was played by Jean-Pierre Aumont.
The film Invitation to the Dance by Gene Kelly uses Scheherazade as dance music in the third story of the film, the animated segment "Sinbad the Sailor".
Fritz Kreisler arranged the second movement (The Story of the Kalendar Prince) and the third movement (The Young Prince and the Princess) for violin and piano, giving the arrangements the names "Danse Orientale" and "Chanson Arabe", respectively.
In 1959, bandleader Skip Martin adapted from Scheherazade the jazz album Scheherajazz (Sommerset-Records),[25]
[26]
Scheherazade is a popular music choice for competitive
