''Babek'' ( az, Babək) is a heroic ''
Spartacus''-like ballet in two acts, based on the story of the people’s liberation struggle against
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
Caliphate
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
under the leadership of
Babak Khorramdin.
Akshin Alizadeh composed the music and the prominent Azeri choreographers of the
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
era
Rafiga Akhundova
Rafiga Haji gizi Akhundova ( az, Rəfiqə Hacı qızı Axundova, born 7 August 1931) is an Azerbaijani ballet dancer, ballet master. People's Artist of the Azerbaijan SSR (1970).
Biography
Rafiga Akhundova graduated from Baku Choreography Sch ...
and
Maksud Mamedov choreographed the ballet for
(National Ballet of Azerbaijan) in 1986.
Story
The ballet creation narrates the story of the brave Iranian national hero,
Babak Khorramdin, who in the 9th century led the rebellion against foreign occupying forces and local feudal lords in Iran. Babak succeeded Javidan, a rebel who had led the resistance during many years. On his deathbed, Javidan declares Babak as his successor and the one who would lead the resistance against the foreign occupation. For more than twenty-two years, Babak bravely fought the Arab invaders from his remote castle in the mountains of northwestern Iran and inflicted heavy casualties on the army of the Abbasid Caliphate. Finally he was betrayed by
Afshin
Afshin ( fa, افشین / ''Afšīn'') is a common Persian given name, which is a modern Persian word derived from Avestan. Afshin was used by the Sogdians. Historically, it was the princely title of the rulers of Osrushana at the time of the Mu ...
and captured by the army of the Caliph. Babak was brutally executed but his legend lives until today.
World premiere
Created for the
National Ballet of Azerbaijan, the ballet was staged in
Baku
Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...
at V.I. Lenin Palace
(now
Heydar Aliyev Palace) on 20 May 1986. The principal role of the ballet was performed by Vitaliy Akhundov,
winner of the Grand
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
Ballet Contest. Four performances were staged at the V.I. Lenin Palace and later the ballet was included in the repertoire of the national ballet at
.
Presentation in the West
A series of performances followed the world premiere in Baku during 1986. After a successful season during the same year, the ballet fell into oblivion and was never re-staged in Azerbaijan.
Nima Kiann
Nima Kiann ( fa, نیما کیان; born January 26, 1970) is an Iranian-born Swedish ballet artist, Choreography, choreographer, visual artist and dance scholar.
He recreated the disbanded Iranian National Ballet Company in Sweden and through h ...
, the founder and artistic director of
Les Ballets Persans discovered the forgotten ballet and invited the choreographers to revive the ballet in order to be included in the world premiere production of the newly established
Les Ballets Persans in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
. Thus, Babek was introduced for the first time in the West and for a European audience sixteen years after its world premiere in Baku. Staging of Babek in Stockholm was also the first presentation of the art form of Azerbaijanian ballet outside the country after the fall of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
.
Legacy
The expressing and colorful music of Babek is one of Azerbaijan's musical compositions best representing the genre of historical and epic music. The composer,
Akshin Alizadeh, has mentioned Babek as the composition he was born and living for to create:
''"Babek" is my whole life. I applied much effort into this ballet. When I was working on this ballet, I felt myself like a gladiator. I wrote this composition during the course of 10 years.''
References
{{Italic title
Compositions by Agshin Alizadeh
Ballet in Azerbaijan