Chopiniana

Chopiniana is a one-act choreographic suite and Michel Fokine’s masterpiece, dating back to the early 1900s. When it premièred, the choreographer was just 27 years old, but, as ambitious as he was young, he felt that he had what it takes to challenge classical traditions. For his new production, Fokine chose music that had never been used as a ballet score before: a set of several pieces by Frederic Chopin. His main source of inspiration was La Sylphide, a renowned show that had, at one point, starred the great Maria Taglioni. And finally, the choreographer’s contemporary muse was Anna Pavlova.

Fokine himself wrote, 'It was a dance in Taglioni's style—the style of that bygone age when poetry was the cornerstone of ballet; when a dancer tiptoed on her pointe shoes not to show off her endurance, but to, by barely touching the ground, give off the impression of zephyr-like flight, something not of this earth... The audience was mesmerised, and so was I'.

Leonid Yacobson considered himself a disciple of Michel Fokine, building upon the traditions that the latter had established. This is why today, Chopiniana is a highlight on the Leonid Yacobson Ballet Theatre playbill. This ballet, with its flawless aesthetics, gives our troupe members an excellent chance to showcase their masterful dance technique.