Kingdom of the Shades, Image by Natasha Rezina

La Bayadère
The Kirov Ballet

Royal Opera House,
Covent Garden

28 July at 7.30pm
29, 30 July at 2.00pm and 7.30pm

The Kirov Ballet’s much-loved 1941 production of La Bayadère returns to the Royal Opera House stage. A melodrama of betrayal and ultimate redemption, the tale of the temple dancer Nikiya’s doomed love for the warrior Solor unfolds in scenes of exotic spectacle in Petipa’s masterpiece, culminating in the breathtaking ‘Kingdom of the Shades’.

click for booking details

"La Bayadere" 28th July

Cast

Nikiya, a bayadère - Daria Pavlenko
The Rajah Dugmanta - Pyotr Stasiunas
Gamzatti, his daughter - Ekaterina Osmolkina
Solor, a rich warrior - Leonid Sarafanov

The High Brahmin - Vladimir Ponomarev
Magdaveya, a fakir - Igor Petrov
Toloragva, a warrior - Andrei Yakovlev
The Slave - Vladimir Shishov
Aya, a slave girl - Elena Bazhenova

D’jampe Dance:
Daria Sukhorukova,
Yana Serebryakova

Dance of the bayadères (Act II):
Olesya Novikova,
Yana Selina,
Svetlana Ivanova,
Evgenia Obraztsova

Grand pas classique (Act II):
Daria Sukhorukova,
Alina Somova,
Elena Vostrotina,
Xenia Ostreikovskaya,
Ivan Popov,
Dmitri Pykhachev

Indian Dance:
Galina Rakhmanova,
Islom Baimuradov,
Vasily Scherbakov

The Golden Idol Vladimir Shklyarov

The Three Shades (Act III):
Olesya Novikova,
Tatiana Tkachenko,
Alina Somova
and Artists of The Kirov Ballet


Actors
Rehearsed by Viacheslav Khomiakov and co-ordinated by Alan Schneider
Mark Allington, Michael Argonoff, John Atterbury, Sarah Best, Jean-Pierre Blanchard,
Helen Garton, James Graham, Robert McGibbon, Sarah McKay, Alex McLeod,
Kenton Moore, John Newbury, Fiona O’Connor, Louise Raphael, Dave Roberts,
Naomi Sachs, Yannis Salonikidis, Dickon Savage, Daniel Swan, Oliver Symons,
John Tindle, Tim Webster, Don Weinstein, Felix Wightman

"La Bayadere" 29th July (matinee)

Cast

Nikiya, a bayadère - Viktoria Tereshkina
The Rajah Dugmanta - Pyotr Stasiunas
Gamzatti, his daughter - Irina Golub
Solor, a rich warrior - Anton Korsakov
The High Brahmin - Vladimir Ponomarev

Magdaveya, a fakir - Nikolai Zubkovsky
Toloragva, a warrior - Andrei Yakovlev
The Slave - Vladimir Shishov
Aya, a slave girl - Elena Bazhenova

D’jampe Dance:
Daria Sukhorukova,
Yana Serebryakova

Dance of the bayadères (Act II):
Olesya Novikova,
Yana Selina,
Svetlana Ivanova,
Evgenia Obraztsova

Grand pas classique (Act II):
Daria Sukhorukova,
Alina Somova,
Elena Vostrotina,
Xenia Ostreikovskaya,
Ivan Popov,
Dmitri Pykhachev

Indian Dance:
Ekaterina Petina,
Sergei Kononenko,
Vasily Scherbakov

The Golden Idol Grigory Popov

The Three Shades (Act III) Olesya Novikova,
Daria Sukhorukova,
Alina Somova
and Artists of The Kirov Ballet


Actors
Rehearsed by Viacheslav Khomiakov and co-ordinated by Alan Schneider
Mark Allington, Michael Argonoff, John Atterbury, Sarah Best, Jean-Pierre Blanchard,
Helen Garton, James Graham, Robert McGibbon, Sarah McKay, Alex McLeod,
Kenton Moore, John Newbury, Fiona O’Connor, Louise Raphael, Dave Roberts,
Naomi Sachs, Yannis Salonikidis, Dickon Savage, Daniel Swan, Oliver Symons,
John Tindle, Tim Webster, Don Weinstein, Felix Wightman

"La Bayadere" 29th July (eve)

Cast

Nikiya, a bayadère - Diana Vishneva
The Rajah Dugmanta - Pyotr Stasiunas
Gamzatti, his daughter - Tatiana Tkachenko
Solor, a rich warrior - Andrian Fadeyev
The High Brahmin - Vladimir Ponomarev

Magdaveya, a fakir - Igor Petrov
Toloragva, a warrior - Andrei Yakovlev
The Slave - Vladimir Shishov
Aya, a slave girl - Elena Bazhenova

D’jampe Dance:
Daria Sukhorukova,
Yana Serebryakova

Dance of the bayadères (Act II):
Olesya Novikova,
Yana Selina,
Svetlana Ivanova,
Evgenia Obraztsova

Grand pas classique (Act II):
Daria Sukhorukova,
Alina Somova,
Elena Vostrotina,
Xenia Ostreikovskaya,
Ivan Popov,
Dmitri Pykhachev

Indian Dance:
Galina Rakhmanova,
Islom Baimuradov,
Vasily Scherbakov

The Golden Idol Vladimir Shklyarov

The Three Shades (Act III):
Olesya Novikova,
Daria Sukhorukova,
Alina Somova
and Artists of The Kirov Ballet


Actors
Rehearsed by Viacheslav Khomiakov and co-ordinated by Alan Schneider
Mark Allington, Michael Argonoff, John Atterbury, Sarah Best, Jean-Pierre Blanchard,
Helen Garton, James Graham, Robert McGibbon, Sarah McKay, Alex McLeod,
Kenton Moore, John Newbury, Fiona O’Connor, Louise Raphael, Dave Roberts,
Naomi Sachs, Yannis Salonikidis, Dickon Savage, Daniel Swan, Oliver Symons,
John Tindle, Tim Webster, Don Weinstein, Felix Wightman

"La Bayadere" July 30th (mat)

Cast


Nikiya, a bayadère - Viktoria Tereshkina
The Rajah Dugmanta - Pyotr Stasiunas
Gamzatti, his daughter - Ekaterina Osmolkina
Solor, a rich warrior - Daniil Korsuntsev
The High Brahmin - Vladimir Ponomarev

Magdaveya, a fakir - Nikolai Zubkovsky (changed)
Toloragva, a warrior - Andrei Yakovlev
The Slave Vladimir - Shishov
Aya, a slave girl - Elena Bazhenova

D’jampe Dance:
Daria Sukhorukova,
Yana Serebryakova

Dance of the bayadères (Act II):
Olesya Novikova,
Yana Selina,
Svetlana Ivanova,
Evgenia Obraztsova

Grand pas classique (Act II):
Daria Sukhorukova,
Alina Somova,
Elena Vostrotina,
Xenia Ostreikovskaya,
Ivan Popov,
Dmitri Pykhachev

Indian Dance:
Ekaterina Petina,
Sergei Kononenko,
Vasily Scherbakov

The Golden Idol - Grigory Popov

The Three Shades (Act III):
Irina Golub,
Daria Sukhorukova,
Alina Somova
and Artists of The Kirov Ballet


Actors
Rehearsed by Viacheslav Khomiakov and co-ordinated by Alan Schneider
Mark Allington, Michael Argonoff, John Atterbury, Sarah Best, Jean-Pierre Blanchard,
Helen Garton, James Graham, Robert McGibbon, Sarah McKay, Alex McLeod,
Kenton Moore, John Newbury, Fiona O’Connor, Louise Raphael, Dave Roberts,
Naomi Sachs, Yannis Salonikidis, Dickon Savage, Daniel Swan, Oliver Symons,
John Tindle, Tim Webster, Don Weinstein, Felix Wightman

"La Bayadere" July 30th (eve)

Cast

Nikiya, a bayadère - Uliana Lopatkina
The Rajah Dugmanta - Pyotr Stasiunas
Gamzatti, his daughter - Tatiana Tkachenko
Solor, a rich warrior - Igor Zelensky
The High Brahmin - Vladimir Ponomarev

Magdaveya, a fakir - Igor Petrov
Toloragva, a warrior - Andrei Yakovlev
The Slave - Vladimir Shishov
Aya, a slave girl - Elena Bazhenova

D’jampe Dance:
Daria Sukhorukova,
Yana Serebryakova

Dance of the bayadères (Act II):
Olesya Novikova,
Yana Selina,
Svetlana Ivanova,
Evgenia Obraztsova

Grand pas classique (Act II):
Daria Sukhorukova,
Alina Somova,
Elena Vostrotina,
Xenia Ostreikovskaya,
Ivan Popov,
Dmitri Pykhachev

Indian Dance:
Galina Rakhmanova,
Islom Baimuradov,
Vasily Scherbakov

The Golden Idol - Vladimir Shklyarov

The Three Shades (Act III):
Irina Golub,
Daria Sukhorukova,
Alina Somova
and Artists of The Kirov Ballet


Actors
Rehearsed by Viacheslav Khomiakov and co-ordinated by Alan Schneider
Mark Allington, Michael Argonoff, John Atterbury, Sarah Best, Jean-Pierre Blanchard,
Helen Garton, James Graham, Robert McGibbon, Sarah McKay, Alex McLeod,
Kenton Moore, John Newbury, Fiona O’Connor, Louise Raphael, Dave Roberts,
Naomi Sachs, Yannis Salonikidis, Dickon Savage, Daniel Swan, Oliver Symons,
John Tindle, Tim Webster, Don Weinstein, Felix Wightman

The "La Bayadere" matinee on the 29th July with Viktoria Tereshkina, Irina Golub and Anton Korsakov was a delight. The two young women seized the opportunity and gave technically accomplished performances with convincing characterisations. Korsakov was also spendid with a noble demeanor, huge jumps and soft landings. The Shades were wonderful, apart from a few wobbles once they were all on stage, to show that even the Kirov are human. However, the combination of a skrim, copious smoke and an ill-placed boulder didn't help the symmetry of the opening descent.

Overall, despite the twin handicaps of the dull Minkus score and the ridiculous 19thC. European view of the Orient, "La Bayadere" worked its magic.

I wonder if the ill-placed boulder is the same one they use here?

I dont recall smoke on the St P stage, but will check more closely next time -- certainly nothing that would have caught my attention, so it must have been a bit overdone for the London performance(s). Interesting.

I would have loved to have seen that casting -- what a great group of dancers. It's strange -- the local casting rarely pairs that many stars together at once. We might have Tereshkina with a lesser known male, or a well-known male star with a less popular female. You're getting the cream of the crop in London as far as casting goes!

I notices the ill placed boulder too last night but apart from that the Shades were absolutely wonderful. In fact the whole performance with Lopatkina as Nikiya, Zelensky as Solor and Tkachenko as Gamzatti was a sheer delight, the kind that makes you sigh with happiness.

Zelensky brought the house down with his variation in the 3rd act. Seeing him it is hard to believe that he suffered a serious back injury a few years ago. As for Lopatkina what can I say. There seems to be something slightly otherworldly about her that works just perfectly for that role.

By the end of the performance the company received a well deserved 'last night of he season' flower throw and huge applause. Now we just will have to wait for their return.

OdileGB, i have yet to see Lopatkina in Bayadere, but being the purely classical role that it is, i can imagine her rendition goes beyond words.

We just closed the season here too on Friday night. A bit sad. I will be going through serious withdrawl over the next two months before they return to the theatre!

more in the second part of the linked article

La Bayadere
Kirov Ballet
ROH, London
28th, 29th and 30th July (mat & eve)

On this trip to London the Kirov has decided to bring with it the old Soviet version of “La Bayadere”, more or less intact from how I last remembered it but with ‘Manu’ and her pot going missing. I’ve always considered it an oddly constructed ballet with its mainly mimed first act that becomes more and more tedious the more I view it, but at least there’s no mind numbing last act and ineffective destruction of the temple scene to endure at the end, so in that respect this version is more viable than others.

In the end it all comes down to the dancing, and in the four performances I saw there were four pairs of lovers to enjoy and compare. On the first night Daria Pavlenko, made a soulful, sorrowful Nikiya partnered by Kirov golden boy Leonid Sarafanov as the unfaithful Solor. Sarafanov has been criticized a fair bit on these pages and elsewhere as getting too much too soon, a sentiment that I have had some sympathy with in the past. When I last saw him in the Vikharev reconstructed Bayadere two years ago, he looked far too young for the role and swamped by his costume he put me in mind of a boy dressing up in his fathers clothes: not this time though. Still looking youthful in the extreme he has developed a stage persona that is actually rather glamorous and his costume this time around was rather sexy with very low slung filmy trousers and a tiny crop top that put me very much in mind of what Chaboukiani wore in one of my videos of historic performances and it suddenly dawned on me that if young Leonid were lead singer in a boy band the girls would be screaming for him from here to Tokyo. Looking good is one thing though but in this role only the dancing matters and Sarafanov didn’t disappoint: he was almost textbook perfect with the softest of landings from his jumps and if his partnering has looked shaky in the past, he made no errors on this occasion. His Gamzatti was Ekaterina Osmolkina, another rather young dancer who looked a very nice princess, not up to plotting nasty things with snakes at all but dancing very strongly throughout. The three shades were completely unmemorable, with only Tkachenko in the second solo looking almost adequate, but what is it with Kirov cabrioles? Once they were crisply executed with a clean beat; now it seems they must always finish with a leg thrown up to the ceiling. Petipa must be tuning in his grave.

Although as I mentioned earlier I missed Manu and her balancing act, I still enjoyed a rip-roaring Indian Dance with the peerless Galina Rakhmanova paired with Islom Baimuradov accompanied by Vassily Scherbakov banging the drum. They made a cracking team with a level of energy that went off the Richter scale.

The next day a work commitment I couldn’t get out of meant missing the Friday matinee but several of my acquaintances praised the Solor of Anton Korsakov very highly. I was sorry to have missed him, as his performance in Nutcracker in Germany last December was one of the highlights of my ballet going last year.

The evening performance gave us Diana Vishneva, now an international star. Of course the bigger the name the bigger the expectations and Vishneva fulfilled all the highest expectations anyone might have had with a performance that was close to flawless, her partner again was Andrian Fadeyev who danced brilliantly but without much involvement in a costume a tad more substantial than Sarafanov’s the night before. Tatiana Tkachenko as Gamzatti had the makings of a real bitch and made a glitzy would be bride dancing with an all out gusto and facing the most difficult passages of the choreography fearlessly. I was very impressed by her, dancing opposite a ballerina of Vishneva’s calibre she still managed to hold her own.

It was the Saturday matinee that I probably enjoyed the most during this run of Bayaderes ,with Viktoria Tereshkina and Daniil Korsuntsev taking the leading roles. Nikiya suits Tereshkina extremely well with her unfussy technique and beautiful clean line, she also possess more awareness of musicality than most of her colleagues. Added to this she appeared to have a better rapport with her partner than the other pairings, which gave the performance an extra dimension that the others lacked. Korsuntsev, not a dancer I usually credit with much acting ability, seemed more involved in the story than the other Solor’s looking convincingly guilty while struggling with his mixed emotions towards the prospect of marrying a rajah’s daughter whilst still in love with Nikiya. He danced rather well too.

The final performance was with Lopatkina and Igor Zelensky, with Lopatkina dancing as beautifully as ever but remaining emotionally uninvolved. Zelensky of course suffered a severe back injury a while back and he has contrived to exclude virtually all the ballet’s lifts. I’ve always liked Zelensky in the role of Solor as he gives the appearance of someone who actually could be an Indian Warrior; by the way, the programme now describes Solor as being “a rich warrior”, the first time in my recollection that his financial status has ever been mentioned. If Zelensky was wary about lifting, he certainly wasn’t in any way cautious when it came to his final solo which he took at such a speed that the years just fell away as he accelerated to a pace that left the audience screaming their appreciation.

Sadly though I have to finish on a sour note. The Kingdom of the shades was a massive let down and the formerly impeccable Kirov corps was to blame. Shade after Shade descended the ramp with a penchee arabesque forced grotesquely high. Where was the perfect uniformity of the past? Who sanctioned this travesty? That Kirov instructors who should know better are urging soloists to become contortionists is bad enough, but to ruin the corps in the same way has me seething.

What an extraordinary response to the perfection of the corps de ballet in the Shades scene of Bayaderka. On the first night of this season, their performance was exemplary with the audience responding with the longest applause for a corps de ballet at the ROH I have witnessed in more than 40 years of ballet going. Every serious ballet-goer I spoke to was of the same opinion and most critics concurred with this opinion. I personally do not like the hyper-extensions that have crept into ballet, but the Kirov corps danced with such control that the required effect of this scene was achieved.
It is apparent that hyper-extensions are now part of the Kirov performance style and some might say it is merely an example of the continuous development of training and technique which has always been part of the St Petersburg school.