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| | Arts Calendar / June 1 / Ballet |
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 12:00, 19:00. Ballet in three acts to music by Ludwig Minkus. 195 min (with two intervals). La Bayadere is one of the most famous ballets of the Russian imperial stage. This creation by Marius Petipa to the music by Ludwig Minkus and the libretto by Sergei Khudekov saw the light in 1877 and immediately became popular. All the great ballerinas have dreamt of dancing the main part, that of the bayadere Nikiya. The Bayad?re’s best adornment is the Shadows scene, which proved an example of sublime harmony on the ballet stage. The scene’s popularity might only be rivaled by, if any, that of the “white scenes” of Swan Lake. All the subsequent versions of the ballet, of which the 20th century has seen quite a few, any innovations and alterations notwithstanding, have been made with the intent to keep the original Shadows intact to a maximum degree. The outstanding ballerina Natalia Makarova staged her own version of La Bayadere in 1980. It is not as pompous or populous as the original yet preserves all the major qualities of the Petipa’s masterpiece. Makarova’s version proved so successful that it has been added to the armories of many a European theater.
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