Dance - Textual healing

Blame it on Disney Studios, who painted a murderous, megalomaniac jinni as a soft-hearted, bright-blue comic genie. They’re also guilty of omitting the demon/damsel bondage scenes and the three sadistic sisters who slap a man silly for not knowing the right name for their vaginas. Yes, in America A Thousand and One Nights have been William Bennettized — cleansed of all the good stuff.

So we owe a debt of gratitude to choreographer Eldar Aliev, former Kirov Ballet dancer and artistic director of Indianapolis’ Ballet Internationale, for returning at least some of the sex and violence to the story of the serial-killer sultan Shakhriar and Scheherazade, the fetching fabulist who heals him with her stories.

The Atlanta Ballet’s production of Aliev’s A Thousand and One Nights, opening Oct. 30 at the Fox (and running a mere four nights), begins with a condensed version of the traditional framing story. Shakhriar finds his beloved wife Nurida in the arms of her favorite slave. Unschooled in the doctrine of proportional response, Shakhriar orders every young woman in the kingdom be put to death.

Scheherazade interrupts the ensuing mass slaughter and convinces Shakhriar to stay the executions for as long as her stories entertain him. Telling three of the best-known stories from Thousand and One Nights — Aladdin (sans mischievous monkey), Ali Baba (sans Beastie Boys), and Sinbad and the Roc (a big bird who’s a nasty-taloned pecker, not a big actor/wrestler who’s a talentless prick) — Scheherazade heals Shakhriar of his rage by reminding him of beauty, love and wisdom. It’s movement medicine of the finest kind.

The Atlanta Ballet presents A Thousand and One Nights Oct. 30 at 7:30 p.m.; Oct. 31 at 8 p.m.; Nov. 1 at 2 and 8 p.m.; Nov. 2 at 2 and 7 p.m. Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St. $20-$66. 404-817-8700. www.atlantaballet.com.