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La Bayadère

La Bayadère, first presented in 1877 by the Imperial Ballet, was created by the renowned choreographer of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres, Marius Petipa, to the music of Ludwig Minkus. The ballet tells the story of a tragic romance between the beautiful temple dancer Nikiya and the noble warrior Solor, who was selected to be the fiancé of Rajah Dugmanta of Golconda's daughter, Gamzatti. Nikiya is forced to dance during their betrothal and receives a basket of flowers after her performance, which she mistakenly believes is from her beloved warrior. While enjoying her gift, a snake jumps out to kill the bayadere. Rajah and Gamzatti, feeling a relief, happily proceed with the wedding. But the gods are infuriated, and while celebrating, the temple collapses. Finally, the spirits of Nikiya and Solor are reunited over the Himalaya.

Today, the ballet is presented based on two different versions, the Vakhtang Chabukiani and Vladimir Ponomaryov's revival for the Kirov Ballet from 1941, and the Natalia Makarova's version for American ballet Theatre from 1980. Its famous act of Solor dreaming of reuniting with Nikiya, The Kingdom of the Shades, is one of the most beloved scenes of classical ballets.