© Natasha Razina Kirov 'La Bayadere' reviews 'La Bayadere' reviews Vishneva in reviews Tereshkina in reviews Fadeyev in reviews recent Kirov reviews more Oksana Khadarina reviews Discuss this review (Open for at least 6 months)

The opening night presentation of the three-act production of La Bayadere by the Kirov Ballet at the Kennedy Center Opera House was a performance to remember. The dancers delivered technically brilliant and soulful interpretation, sincerely accentuating dramatic weight and passion of the narrative.

The exotic plot of La Bayadere was inspired by ancient Indian poetry and recounts the tragic love story of Nikiya, the temple dancer (or bayaderka), deceived by her beloved Solor, a noble warrior, and ordered to kill by his fiancée, Princess Gamzatti.

The quintessential masterpiece of Marius Petipa, La Bayadere, combines extravagant theater with the purest classical dancing. The Kingdom of the Shades scene embodies the very essence of classical ballet and is widely considered the most exquisite ensemble choreography, the epitome of harmony and beauty in ballet.

The company performed a “mixed version” of La Bayadere - the traditional 1941 Vladimir Ponomarev and Vakhtang Chabukiani production combined with the 1900 designs reconstructed in 2001.

The stage sets in all three acts never failed to impress, wonderfully rendering the somber majesty of the ancient temple, the grandeur and splendor of the Rajah’s palace, and the quiet mystery of the Kingdom of the Shades. The beautifully designed costumes alluded to traditional Indian couture, appropriately offering a wide gamut of vivid colors and plenty of bare midriffs.

The leading cast was splendid throughout, featuring the glorious Diana Vishneva as Nikiya, the poignant Andrian Fadeyev as Solor, the glamorous Viktoria Tereshkina as Gamzatti (she is regarded as “the best Gamzatti in the company”), the dramatic Vladimir Ponomarev as High Brahmin, and the stately Petr Stasyunas as Rajah Dugmantah.

On opening night, Vishneva created a complex emotional portrait of the heroine. Her Nikiya is serene and luminous, gracefully dancing in the courtyard of the Temple of the Fire. She exhibits sheer determination and control in rejecting the lovelorn High Brahmin, and is radiant and content when lovingly embraced by Solor. Confronted by the arrogant Gamzatti, her Nikiya is devastated and hopeless at first, but then, in a moment of despair, reaches for a dagger, and she knows exactly what she is doing.

During the wedding celebration of Solor and Gamzatti, Nikiya pours her pain and sorrow into a slow, lamenting solo – one of the most sublime and achingly poignant episodes of the ballet. Vishneva conveys the emotional suffering of her heroine so sincerely it makes the audience weep. But then we see a completely different Nikiya, poised and dignified, a ghostly spirit in the Kingdom of the Shades.

There is an entrancing, innate beauty in Vishneva’s expressive style. She is able to capture and translate emotions in a very natural way, genuinely and immediately. Watching her dancing, you believe the emotions are real. Her musicality and artistry provoke instant, almost spontaneous admiration. Her movements are light as a morning breeze. Her steps are feathery soft. Her delicate, supple, flowing arms can inspire poetry. Her sensitively articulated gestures and elegant, smooth lines leave you breathless.

Viktoria Tereshkina was simply irresistible as Gamzatti - no wonder Solor was smitten by her incomparable beauty and charm. The wedding celebration pas de deux of Solor and Gamzatti in the second act was a spectacular showcase of bravura and abandon. In my opinion, this was the happiest scene in the entire ballet. Here Solor forgot for a moment about his treachery, shook away his sorrow and enjoyed dancing with his gorgeous bride. On opening night, Andrian Fadeyev as Solor did exactly that.

The first two acts of the ballet overwhelm with exotic scenery and elaborate ensembles, yet there is little classical dancing. The third act, however, brings the most famous scene of classical ballet – the Kingdom of the Shades, in which the grief-stricken Solor slips into an opium-induced dream, looking for his perished Nikiya among the dead.
 

The balletmaster of the Imperial Russian Ballet, Petipa, knew how to impress. The choreographic idea of this abstract scene is brilliant in its simplicity: in an alluring slow motion, 32 ballerinas in shimmering white tutus, one by one, descend on the darken stage from a rocky slope, executing the same arabesque-adorned phrase. This seemingly endless procession evokes a hypnotic mirage, at once poetic and ethereal. The emotional intensity of the vision grows like a steadily expanding, powerful crescendo as we follow each of the ballerinas in their solemn entrance. The tranquil and unassuming lyrical theme of the Minkus music, soaring passionately with each subsequent variation, helps raise the emotional power and transcendent quality of this visual image to the highest point.

When the last dancer reaches the stage, the graceful ghosts dissolve the zigzagged line and scatter onstage like pearls from a broken necklace. As the tinted screen goes up, brightening the floor, all 32 ballerinas stand motionless, arranged in perfect diagonals. This very moment invariably causes gasps in the audience. The dramatic contrast of this striking black-and-white image with vibrant, colorful commotion of the two previous acts comes almost as a surprise - even a shock - and its abstract beauty adds to the overall profound effect.

On opening night, the Kirov dancers never missed a beat, rendering a wonderfully nuanced and technically flawless execution of each step: legs perfectly raised in a deep, unwavering arabesque; backs arched sublimely; and arms elevated in supreme unison. It was a fascinating show of unsurpassed beauty, seamless unity and grace.