| On 22 January Michel Fokine’s one-act ballets will see debuts by Alexander Beloborodov as Eusebius in Le Carnaval and Alisa Sodoleva as Zobeide in Schéhérazade.
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 Scene from the ballet Schéhérazade |
Fokine’s Le Carnaval, a ballet to music by Schumann, was born from Italian commedia dell’arte. Framed by Léon Bakst’s exquisite sets, this pantomime ballet demands absolute concentration on the style of the production from the dancers. Le Carnaval was revived for the Mariinsky Theatre by choreographer Sergei Vikharev (from sketches by Fokine) and designer Mikhail Shishliannikov.
On 22 January Alexander Beloborodov will be making his debut as Eusebius in the ballet. Schéhérazade to music by Rimsky-Korsakov was staged by Fokine for the Saisons russes in 1910. The ballet was designed by Léon Bakst, who created both the sets and the costumes, which are stunning in their eastern magnificence. The choreographer created the role of Zobeide for Ida Rubinstein who had had no classical dance training. Fokine invented a special plastique for her in which “everything was composed from various poses, gestures and angles of the head.” The role of Zobeide’s slave was performed by Nijinsky who, according to Fokine, “reminded one of a primitive savage ... with his every movement. He was half-animal, half-human, like a cat softly pouncing over a great distance, or a stallion with flared nostrils, full of energy and pawing the floor with his legs due to his excessive energy.” On 22 January the role of Zobeide will be performed for the first time by Alisa Sodoleva. The ballerina and her experienced partner, Mariinsky Theatre principal dancer Igor Kolb, were coached by Andris Liepa who revived the ballet for the Mariinsky Theatre in 1994.
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