Ballet: Scheherazade - Schedule, Program & Tickets

Mauro Bigonzetti, long-time artistic director of the Aterballetto in Reggio Emilia, is a great innovator of modern dance, one of the world's most celebrated ballet creators and a sensitive storyteller. By mixing contemporary and classical forms of expression, he reveals and shows the beauty of the human body almost like a sculptor, yet his works are anything but academic. Bigonzetti has previously collaborated with the Czech National Ballet three times. In 2016, Prague staged his work Vertigo to great success, in 2019 the Estates Theatre hosted the world premiere of Kafka: The Trial, and in the 2023/24 season the State Opera will present his choreography to Franz Schubert's Death and the Maiden as part of the unique Holo Harmonies project.

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov did not compose the symphonic suite Scheherazade with the intention of having it performed as a ballet. He made full use of his extraordinary sense of refined and generous orchestration and, inspired by his travels in Asia, created a wonderful piece of music full of beautiful, wistful melodies and dramatic shocks. Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade was first adapted as a ballet by Michel Fokine. The 1910 production, with Léon Bakst's opulent set, was the sensation of the Ballets Russes season. It has been performed worldwide and has become a staple of global culture.

Fokine's piece was one of the first erotic choreographies and at the same time a celebration of physical beauty. Mauro Bigonzetti, an artist of tremendous imagination and flair, will enchant audiences with theatrical magic.

National Theatre Orchestra


Subject to change.