Choreography:
Nima Kiann after Michael Fokine
Music:
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Persian International Philharmonic

Scene I

The great hall of an oriental palace. Sultan Shahriar is being amused by his favourite, Zobeideh. The chief Eunuch suggests entertainment, and three odalisques dance for a bored Shahriar. Following the advice of his brother, Shah Zamân, whi is convinced of Zobeideh’s infidelity, Shahriar prepares to go hunting. All the concubines expect Zobeideh bid him farewell. Before he leaves, he manages to overcome Zobeideh’s resentment, and she too says a fond goodbye.

Scene II

Left alone the concubines whisper together, then try to seduce the Chief Eunuch into granting them a favour. Seeing that he needs to be bribed, they fetch chests of jewels and offer him necklaces. He relents and unlocks the doors to admit the harem girls’ slave lovers. They embrace. Zobeideh is also united with her lover, the Golden Slave, and the two join in a sensuous dance.

Scene III

All the girls and their lovers abandon themselves to riotous dancing, while the Golden Slave leaps and whirls amongst them. At the height of the organic dancing, Shahriar rushes in – the hunt was a trick to expose Zobeideh’s unfaithfulness. The slaves and harem girls are killed, and Shah Zamân cuts down Zobeideh’s lover. Zobeideh pleads for her life, and for a moment Shahriar relents until Shah Zaman reminds him of his dishonour. Zobeideh stabs herself. Shahriar is devastated.

World Premiere in
Japanese American Cultural
and Community Center
Los Angeles, USA

"Shahrzâd"

or adapted in the Occidental World as Scheherazade is a well-known figure from the book of Thousands and One Nights.

The book is a medieval Middle Eastern literary epic which tells the story of Scheherazade, a Sassanid Queen, who must relate a series of stories to her malevolent husband, King Shahriar, to delay her execution. The stories are told over a period of one thousand and one nights, and every night she ends the story with a suspenseful situation, forcing the King to keep her alive for another day.