La Bayadère
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La Bayadère is an 1877 ballet, originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux by the French choreographer Marius Petipa to music by Ludwig Minkus and libretto by Sergei Khudekov. The ballet was staged for the benefit performance of the Russian Prima ballerina Ekaterina Vazem, who created the principal role of Nikiya. La Bayadère was first presented by the Imperial Ballet at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, on 4 February [O.S. 23 January] 1877. From the first performance the ballet was hailed by contemporary critics and audiences as one of the choreographer Petipa's masterpieces, particularly the scene of act II The Kingdom of the Shades, which is one of the most celebrated pieces in all of classical ballet.
Marius Petipa's final revival of La Bayadère, with the stage of the Mariinsky Theatre shown in the scene The Kingdom of the Shades. In the center is Mathilde Kschessinskaya as Nikiya and Pavel Gerdt as Solor. The three soloist shades are seen kneeling to the left: Varvara Rhykhliakova, Anna Pavlova, and Julia Sedova. St. Petersburg, 1900.
Ekaterina Vazem costumed as Nikya for Act I of La Bayadère. St. Petersburg, 1877.
Lev Ivanov costumed as Solor for Act I of La Bayadère. St. Petersburg, 1877.
Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn in the scene The Kingdom of the Shades as staged for the Royal Ballet, London, 1963.
Ludwig Minkus
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Ludwig Minkus, also known as Léon Fyodorovich Minkus, was an Austrian composer of ballet music, a violinist and teacher of music.
Ekaterina Geltzer and Vassily Tikhomirov (center) with corps de ballet in Alexander Gorsky's revival of Minkus's Le Poisson doré for the Bolshoi Theatre; Moscow, 1903.
Soloists and corps de ballet in Alexander Gorsky's revival of Minkus's Le Poisson doré for the Bolshoi Theatre; Moscow, 1903.
Act I/scene 1 of La Bayadère. In the center is Mathilde Kschessinskaya as Nikiya. St. Petersburg, 1900.