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 La Bayadère
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Bayadere Reviews
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'If you don't like Bayadère, you don't like ballet'. Clive Barnes was talking about the single act, the Kingdom of the Shades, which was at the time all the West knew of Petipa's La Bayadère: but he is identifying the reason why 'Bayadère' can still thrill us today, 120 years after its St Petersburg premiere, when dozens of other ballets with equally 'exotic' settings, trundling plots and undistinguished music are long forgotten. It is the choreography, and the opportunities it provides for great performances, that make the ballet live. Bayadère is set in India (very popular then, thanks to a well-reported tour by the Prince of Wales!). The plot is usually described as over-complicated and ridiculous, but is actually a fairly simple variant on 'A and B love each other but are respectively unrequitedly loved by C and D, who conspire to destroy them'. Here A and B are Nikiya, a temple dancer (a bayadère) and Solor, a princely warrior; while C and D are the High Brahmin of Nikiya's temple and Gamzatti, the local Rajah's daughter. In brief, Gamzatti has Nikiya killed in order to marry Solor herself; Solor in despair dreams of Nikiya's spirit in the Kingdom of the Shades; and when he is forced to marry Gamzatti, the gods destroy the temple and everyone in it. The spirits of Solor and Nikiya are, of course, reunited in an apotheosis. No-one would claim that Minkus, Ballet Composer to the Imperial Theatres, wrote great music. But that wasn't his job: he was there to provide pretty tunes and strong rhythms as a pleasing and appropriate accompaniment to the stage action, and that's exactly what he did. For this production John Lanchbery has edited the score (as he did for Ashton's Fille), 'cleaning it up', as he describes it, particularly to make the orchestration more interesting. Some critics prefer the original version, but I think most people would be happy with the updated sound. The Royal Ballet's production is by Natalia Makarova, first made for American Ballet Theatre in 1980. These days we are familiar with the Kirov's own 'original' Bayadère, and the Paris Opéra Ballet have Nureyev's version, but this was the first time the complete production had been seen in the West. (The Shades scene was already known from Nureyev's revelatory staging for the Royal Ballet in 1963, from the Kirov's tours in the 1960s and from Makarova's own version.) So many changes had already been made to the choreography by the time Makarova learnt in Leningrad that it's almost impossible to say how much is original Petipa: but it is generally accepted that the Grand Pas d'action at Gamzatti's betrothal and the Shades scene are almost entirely authentic. Makarova has discarded many of the character dances, presumably thinking them too old-fashioned, and has made a completely new last act, the original choreography being long-lost. Nureyev's Paris version is much closer to the Kirov's - watch the video and decide which you prefer! When the Royal Ballet first danced Bayadère in 1989, they had a list of 37 (!) principals from whom to cast it. Guillem, Cope and Chadwick did the first night; later we had the famous 'all-stars' performance - the divine Asylmuratova with Ruzimatov and Guillem - at which Ruzimatov pulled out all the stops and was then completely upstaged by Guillem. Of the less starry casts, Ravenna Tucker as Nikiya and both Bussell and Bull as Gamzatti were particularly successful. And Kumakawa literally sprang to fame as the Bronze Idol - a completely superfluous character, with choreography dating only from the 1940, but bringing the house down every night. Since then almost all the company's stars have been seen in the leading roles. This season sees four different casts: Darcey Bussell and Leanne Benjamin have been seen before as Nikiya, but Tamara Rojo and Alina Cojocaru make their debuts. Some exciting Solors are promised from guests Corella, Stiefel and Acosta, as well as company Principals Kobborg and Urlezaga; and Yanowsky, Nunez, Galeazzi and Tapper dance Gamzatti. So was Clive Barnes right? For my money, yes: the Kingdom of the Shades is one of the choreographic glories of the world, and I don't see how anyone with any feeling for classical ballet could fail to love it. The plot is entirely forgotten in favour of pure dance, starting with the famous entrance of the Shades (32 originally, only 24 in this version), who emerge one after another and file across the stage in a long, long series of arabesques - an almost mesmeric effect. For the corps de ballet it must be a nightmare, but for the spectator it is unforgettably beautiful. Then there are the wonderful solos for three of the Shades, and the pas de deux for Nikiya and Solor... you may gather that it is one of my most favourite pieces; indeed if I had to choose the last ballet I would ever see, it would probably be this...but in Nureyev's version. |
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