All the right moves

Kristen Peterson

Monday, May 8, 2006 | 7:26 a.m.

What: "Scheherazade"

When: 8 p.m. Friday; 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday; 1 p.m. Sunday

Where: UNLV's Judy Bayley Theatre

Tickets: $35, $45 or $65

For more information: Call 895-2787

Kathryn Posin's life has been one of interesting dichotomies.

A Jewish girl raised among the Scandinavian Lutherans in Fargo, N.D., her father was a nuclear physicist, yet she pursued answers to life's metaphysical questions.

Her lifelong desire was to dance ballet, but her body wasn't suited for it.

Often described as "short, bowlegged and wiry," Posin instead pursued modern dance and opened her own New York company, choreographing more than 50 works. She closed it to become a freelance ballet choreographer, even though she had never danced in a ballet.

The New Yorker, now 60, is in town this month working with dancers on her production of "Scheherazade" with the Nevada Ballet Theatre, which will be presented this weekend at UNLV's Judy Bayley Theatre.

In the Persian story, inspired by "A Thousand and One Arabian Nights," a sheikh discovers his favorite wife in the arms of his slave, and beheads them. With every virgin he marries thereafter, he spends the night with her, only to behead her in the morning. And then he meets Scheherazade.

Posin's production garnered critical acclaim and broke box-office records in Milwaukee, where she created it for the Milwaukee Ballet.

Posin spoke with the Las Vegas Sun about the production, a twisted love story set to the exotic music of Rimsky-Korsakov, and the role of women in what some consider to be a historically misogynistic form of dance.

This is a pretty intense and sensuous production.

Yes. But it's more than sexy. It's about a woman who needs to tell a story each night that is so intriguing, so compelling and intoxicating so she'll be able to live another day.

Michel Fokine's original choreography for this production was considered scandalous when in Paris in the early 1900s.

He told what would have been a 1900s tale from a male perspective that focused on revenge, anger, desire. Korsakov's wife and son said that it was scandal mongering.

This is a male who created a scandalous ballet. It's the linear, "I will fix you if you hurt me mentally." But the stories contained the vision of the Muslim world, the Islamic religion, which contain the messages of forgiveness, compassion and purity of heart. Over three years, 1,001 nights, the king listened to the stories and learned to forgive. The stories taught him a higher value of compassion and not hate.

My father was a nuclear physicist. I didn't grow up in a church, but I have some philosophical ideas of the world.

You were doing experimental ballet and modern dance for many years. Does this production incorporate any of those methods?

I try to motivate it emotionally, but the technique they use is classical ballet.

You've done some really women-centric work. Do you consider yourself a feminist?

I'm happily married. I don't have a basic anger toward men, but I have great admiration for women. I try to bring the power of woman as activator. In my ballet, the woman calls the shots and takes control of the action.

Balanchine, the greatest choreographer, said, "Ballet is woman," meaning woman as object. But I stand on his shoulders and say women can be protagonists.

Where do you see the power of the woman in "Scheherazade?"

She has a larger life view on her side, one that gives her power: religion is the highest authority, whether Christian, Jewish or Muslim.