Sahdji (ballet)

Sahdji is a 1930 ballet composition in two-movements by American composer William Grant Still.

[1] The ballet was first performed in 1931 under the direction of Howard Hanson at the Eastman School of Music.

Sahdji, the favorite wife of the Azande chieftain Konombju, is infatuated with his nephew and successor, Mrabo.

According to tribal custom, the favorite wife of the chieftain must take her life when her husband dies.

Sahdji, torn between her loyalty to the death vow and her desire for life and the love of Mrabo, dances before the bier of Konombju and finally stabs herself with the sacrificial dagger.