Carnaval
Michel Fokine as Harlequin playfully balances atop the chair’s high backrest while Vera Fokina as Columbine gazes up from the cushion below in this charming studio portrait from Carnaval, capturing the ballet’s flirtatious humor and theatrical character acting.
QUICK F A C T S
- ✦ Carnaval premiered in 1910 during the early years of the Ballets Russes era.
✦ The ballet was choreographed by Michel Fokine.
✦ The music comes from Carnaval, Op. 9, a piano suite composed by Robert Schumann.
✦ Unlike traditional story ballets, Carnaval focuses more on mood, fantasy, and character scenes than on one continuous plot.
✦ The ballet features characters inspired by the Italian commedia dell’arte, including Harlequin, Columbine, and Pierrot.
✦ Early productions featured legendary Ballets Russes dancers such as Vaslav Nijinsky and Tamara Karsavina.
✦ Carnaval helped introduce a more emotional and artistic style of ballet in the early 20th century.
✦ The ballet is remembered for its dreamlike atmosphere, elegant costumes, and theatrical charm.
Michel Fokine as Harlequin and Vera Fokina as Columbine in Carnaval, photographed during the early Ballets Russes era.
S U M M A R Y
Carnaval is a ballet inspired by the music of Robert Schumann, whose piano suite Carnaval, Op. 9 was filled with lively emotions, masked party scenes, and theatrical characters. Schumann’s music imagined a colorful carnival world where fantasy and reality blend together. The ballet later transformed these musical ideas into a dreamlike stage performance full of romance, humor, and mystery.
Adolf de Meyer Nijinsky as Harlequin in Carnaval Paris 1910
Traditional commedia dell’arte characters including Harlequin and Pantaloon, whose theatrical personalities later inspired the characters of Carnaval. Photo: PRA, 2001.
Unlike many story ballets, Carnaval does not follow one clear plot. Instead, it presents a series of scenes inspired by characters from the Italian commedia dell’arte, including Harlequin, Columbine, and Pierrot. Choreographed by Michel Fokine for the famous Ballets Russes in 1910, the ballet focused on mood, personality, and expressive movement rather than fairy-tale storytelling. Fokine wanted ballet to feel more emotional and artistic, helping shape the future of modern ballet.
Carnaval became an important part of early 20th-century ballet history because it showed how music alone could inspire an entire ballet world. The production also featured some of the greatest artists of the Ballets Russes era, including dancers such as Vaslav Nijinsky and Tamara Karsavina. Today, the ballet is remembered for its elegant costumes, poetic atmosphere, and its role in helping ballet move beyond traditional fairy-tale narratives into more imaginative and emotional forms of performance.
Mikhail Baryshnikov performing as Harlequin in Carnaval alongside ballerina believed to be Gelsey Kirkland during the late 20th century revival of the Ballets Russes classic.
E N C O R E
✦ On Today’s Stage
Carnaval continues to be admired for its poetic atmosphere, expressive character acting, and dreamlike blend of music, theater, and dance inspired by the Ballets Russes era.
✦ Iconic Interpreters
Early productions featured legendary Ballets Russes artists such as Vaslav Nijinsky, Tamara Karsavina, and choreographer Michel Fokine, whose emotional and theatrical style helped transform modern ballet.
✦ Legacy
Inspired by Robert Schumann’s music and the playful world of commedia dell’arte, Carnaval helped ballet move beyond traditional fairy-tale storytelling into a more imaginative, emotional, and artistically expressive modern era.