THEREALBAYADÈRE MEETS THE BALLERINA ON THE WESTERN STAGE

Abstract

The oriental ballet is typicallyassociated with modern dance, Russia, and the nonpareil dancers Vaslav Nijinsky, Michel Fokine, Anna Pavlova, and Ruth St. Denis. One of the most excerpted of all classical ballets and considered the first example of the abstract form in modern dance is the “Kingdom of the Shades” sequence in Marius Petipa'sLa Bayadère, featuring thirty-two ghosts of Hindu temple dancers dressed in white entering the stage one by one with a simple arabesque cambre. What people often forget is thatLa Bayadèrewas a huge sensation in Europe during the romantic ballet years – the 1830s and 40s – 50 plus years before the Ballets Russes and a full generation before Petipa's 1877 production, which most assume to be the ballet's original. This and other grand operas and ballets of its kind –Lalla Rookh,Les Orientales,Le Corsair,La Peri,La Paquita,Revolt of the Harem– took romanticism beyond the pale in terms of visual extravagance; elaborate water systems were installed to depict bathing scenes and shipwrecks, and live horses and elephants brought onto the stage to add verisimilitude to the Eastern spectacle.