The five poems of Nizami Ganjavi – The Treasury of Mysteries, Khosrow and Shirin, Layli and Majnun, The Seven Beauties and Eskandar-nameh – are united under one title Khamsa, or The Quinary. The plot of the performance is based on the fragments of all five poems illustrated in manuscripts in Persian miniatures.
Nizami Ganjavi was married three times. His first and most beloved wife, the mother of his only son, died when Nizami completed his third masnavi, Khosrow and Shirin. His second wife died when he completed The Seven Beauties and the third died when he completed the fifth masnavi, Eskander-nameh. They say, Nizami called to God: Lord, can it be true that I have to sacrifice a wife to each masnavi? The episodes depicted in miniatures are united by the theme of love and death which is reflected in Polad Bülbüloğlu’s ballet music, entitled Love and Death. The lyrical, dramatic and rhythmic passages are saturated with ethnic flair and temperament, are expressive as ballet music should be and, at the same time, it is an independently rich score as it surpasses its initial, ballet libretto and encompasses and articulates the plot of all five poems of Nizami Ganjavi in our version.
The performance is consolidated by Muraz Murvanidze’s scenography which unifies the rhythmic cohesion of music and choreography but, just like the miniatures transcend plot illustration, the stage design of the performance transcends the musical and choreographic idea and overflows with the richness of Eastern culture and symbolism.
It was the rhythmic, the plasticity, the flowery text infused with metaphors and symbols, the nature of colours, the power of minerals, cosmology that constituted the choice which fuelled Mariam Aleksidze’s choreography. The way Bahram Gur’s love for the Seven Beauties progresses from dark to light colours, Mariam Aleksidze tried to place a psychological portrait of each character, their fate on the brink of love and death, into the Sufi ritual whirling as a path to the highest form of love.
Contemporary Ballet
based on the Persian miniatures of Nizami Ganjavi’s poems
People’s Artist of Azerbaijan
People’s Artist of Georgia
Honoured Artist of Georgia
Leading Soloist of Giorgi Aleksidze Tbilisi Contemporary Ballet
Leading Soloist of Giorgi Aleksidze Tbilisi Contemporary Ballet
Leading Soloist of Tbilisi Z. Paliashvili Opera and Ballet Professional State Theatre
Soloist of Giorgi Aleksidze Tbilisi Contemporary Ballet
Ballet Soloist of M. Z. Akhundov Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre
Ballet Soloist of M. Z. Akhundov Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre
Giorgi Aleksidze Tbilisi Contemporary Ballet apprentice
The project was the result of a joint effort by the administrative teams of the Dialogue of Cultures – XXI association and Giorgi Aleksidze Tbilisi Contemporary Ballet chamber company.
The performance premiered on 14 August 2016
“Stage” TV Programme – Contemporary ballet “Khamsa”
Contemporary ballet “Khamsa” on Imedi TV
Composer of the ballet “Khamsa”, Azerbaijani People’s Artist Polad Bülbüloğlu, and Professor Valeri Asatiani at the Ajara TV morning programme
Contemporary Ballet “Khamsa” / Premiere