Marius Petipa brought the choreography 'LA BAYADERE' to the stage in St Petersburg in 1877. Fortunately, the notations of the original have been preserved so that choreographers today can give us a reliable picture of his ideas. In this production, the choreographer Alexei Ratmansky did so to music by Ludwig Minkus and with the help of Jerome Kaplan for the set and costumes. In colonial-influenced images of a fantastic India of temples and palaces, the story is told of a love that is not befitting her station: the bayadere Nikia ? an Indian temple dancer ? loves the warrior Solor, who in turn is promised to Gamsatti, the daughter of the powerful Rajah, as her husband. According to the laws of drama, this union can only end unhappily ? in the 'Kingdom of Shadows'. Colourful, opulent and, as one might say today, diverse, this ballet is a feast for the eyes. At the Staatsballett Berlin. In the main
