The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is premiering La Bayadère- The Temple Dancer on October 2nd, 2019, with an entirely new production. Greg Horsman, an Australian choreographer, has produced a new interpretation of La Bayadère, and this is the Canadian premiere. La Bayadère is a difficult ballet to stage, and requires a sizeable and talented company to pull it off. The RWB not only pulls it off but presents a gorgeous and stunning ballet for a very lucky audience with La Bayadère.
If you aren’t familiar with La Bayadère, I would recommend reading my quick history post first. It is one of the great classical ballets created in the nineteenth century, but doesn’t quite have the name recognition of Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. Marius Petipa, the Russian nineteenth century choreographer who created La Bayadère, is responsible for Swan Lake and Don Quixote, and even The Nutcracker. It is a shame that La Bayadère isn’t better known, but hopefully that will be changing! I have included the synopsis below here, but the peak of the show is the Kingdom of the Shades. You will see 22 female dancers making their way down a ramp, all performing spectacular penchés in unison. And it will take your breath away. However, before I go much further, the synopsis…
La Bayadère Synopsis
Prologue
India, 1855 – The armies of Koch Bihar and the British East India Company have been at war. The Maharajah of Koch Bihar and the Governor-General of India decide to bring an end to hostilities, with a treaty that includes the arranged marriage of the Maharajah’s son, Prince Solor to the Governor-General’s daughter, Edith.
ACT 1
Prince Solor is training a garrison of soldiers. An envoy from the Maharajah tells him to return to the palace immediately; Solor agrees, knowing that on the way, he will stop at the Temple of the Golden Idol, where his beloved Nikiya is a bayadère (temple dancer).
The Governor-General and his retinue are escorting his over-indulged daughter, Edith, to Koch Bihar. They stop at the Temple of the Golden Idol, where the High Brahmin greets them and summons the bayadères to bring water and entertain the visitors. Nikiya, the leading
bayadère, concludes the performance. Impressed, the Governor-General offers generous payment for the temple dancers to perform at his daughter’s engagement party.Solor’s garrison arrives. He sends his troops and the envoy on, while he remains, hoping to see Nikiya. When the bayadères emerge from the temple, Nikiya lingers outside and the two lovers meet. Solor proposes that they elope; Nikiya agrees to run away with him on the following night.
Returning to the Palace, Solor is told of the arranged marriage between himself and Edith. He insists it cannot go ahead, as he is in love with Nikiya. Faced with the Maharajah’s anger, he grudgingly complies, knowing he will instead elope with Nikiya.
At their engagement party, Solor agrees to dance with Edith, but rebuffs her affection. The Dance of the Golden Idol is performed and then Nikiya, unaware she is at her beloved’s engagement party, begins to dance. Unable to resist, Solor joins her dance and they kiss. With their love exposed, there is outrage. In the mayhem, Edith sees her chance to avenge Solor’s insult to her; only her father sees her treacherous action. Solor cradles his dying love.
ACT 2
Heartbroken, Solor seeks solace in an opium den. The owner, sensing an opportunity to profit from a man of obvious wealth, guides him to a bed and offers a pipe of opium. Nikiya’s shade (spirit) appears to him, among the star-lit peaks of the Himalayas. The Shades (bayadères who died for love) descend from the mountains and the lovers reconcile, but their bliss ends as the Shades dissolve and Solor wakes from his dream. After some days, the Maharajah’s envoy discovers Solor and he is escorted back to the palace.
ACT 3
Forced to proceed with his marriage while still grieving for Nikiya and riddled with opium, Solor submits to his duty.
At the wedding reception, the newly-married couple dance. Edith, enjoying all eyes upon her, is oblivious to Solor’s distant, dazed mood. He mistakes a wine servant for Nikiya and swiftly drinks the first of many glasses. Solor begins to dance around the hall, much to the surprise and enjoyment of all. Now feeling the effects of the wine, he collapses into the table with the wedding cake. Edith is mortified, and the Maharajah is disgusted by his son’s behaviour.
Confused and intoxicated, Solor fears he may be losing his mind and is taken to his rooms. He imagines Nikiya in his arms again and collapses on the bed. Edith decides to put her anger aside and seduce him. When Solor rejects her advances, she becomes incensed and screams that Nikiya died by her hand. Solor is blinded by rage and retaliates with violence. Soldiers run into the room; Solor is shot and, staggering backwards, falls through a window.
Apotheosis
Nikiya and Solor’s spirits enter the Kingdom of the Shades where, at last, they are reunited in eternal love.
This production is particularly unique, as it takes a more historical approach to the plot of La Bayadère rather than a mythical. By placing the story in British India, rather than a mythic India (where the British don’t appear at all), Horsman places the story firmly in the past. The heart of the story certainly remains the same, and the iconic Kingdom of the Shades is still celebrated. Petipa’s choreography is impressive, even well-beyond 100 years old, but this update brings new life to this classic.
What to Expect at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s La Bayadère
As usual, the talent and technique of the RWB dancers is on full display in La Bayadère. I consider myself quite fortunate to have seen this particular cast perform, as they truly brought the ballet to life. Sophia Lee’s Nikiya is tragically beautiful, and allows you to see both her technical ability and her emotive style of dancing. Lee has a rare talent for wringing true emotion from her characters without being over-the-top and distracting, and Nikiya is the perfect vehicle. Dobrowney’s Solor is heartfelt and sorrowful, and truly makes you feel his pain. It is a triumphant return to the RWB and I am excited to see what comes next for him this season! Elizabeth Lamont’s Edith (Gamzatti in the original) is perfectly spoiled, and absolutely nails one of ballet’s original mean girls. And of course, the company dancers and Aspirants are fantastic as temple dancers, shades, party guests, soldiers, and more.The comedic notes in the production provide a wonderful balance to an otherwise tragic and doomed story, with Secong Soloists Stefan Azulay and Ryan Vetter standing out in their roles.
The costuming and sets are stunning, and help bring La Bayadère to life. The temple dancers’ costumes are quite beautiful, but the Shades’ classical tutus are what we are here for- and they are gorgeous in their multiples. We normally don’t see costumes this elaborate and rich outside of The Nutcracker, so this is a treat for the audience. In particular Jaime Vargas and Alexander Gamayunov’s costumes as the Maharajah and Governor General are quite striking!
Where You Can Find It
The Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s La Bayadère has five performance dates, with four of them remaining. You can see it at the Centennial Concert Hall:
Thursday, 3 October 2019- 7:30pm
Friday, 4 October 2019- 7:30pm
Saturday, 5 October 2019- 7:30pm
Sunday, 6 October 2019- 2:00pm
The running time is just over two and a half hours, with two intermissions. The costumes are absolutely spectacular, and the dancers are certainly making ballet history here in Winnipeg with the strength of their performance. La Bayadère is not a commonly performed ballet, and the chance to see it performed by a world-renowned company like the Royal Winnipeg Ballet is rare- this is a must-see performance! You can get your tickets here.
And, if I may recommend a particular show, I will actual be at the pre-show chat on Friday evening, sharing some of the history of La Bayadère!
Will you be going to the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s La Bayadère?
Cheers,
The Historian
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