From the first performance of La Bayadère (The Temple Dancer) in 1887, the ballet was hailed as another supreme masterpiece by the brilliant choreographer, Marius Petipa, one of the most influential figures in classical ballet. Styled after Marius Petipa, with the original music of Ludwig Minkus, Natalia Makarova's 1980 production of La Bayadère for American Ballet Theatre won a permanent place in the Western repertoire. It was Makarova's version that was adopted by The Tokyo Ballet in 2009. The music of nineteenth-century Austrian composer and virtuoso violinist, Ludwig Minkus is among the most performed in all of ballet and is an integral part of the traditional classical ballet repertory, as is the choreography of Marius Petipa.
Set in ancient royal India, the theme of La Bayadère concerns the mysteries of fate, vengeance and eternal love. Nikiya, the temple dancer, and Solor, a noble warrior, have sworn eternal fidelity to one another, but powerful figures have other plans for them. A love scene in the ballet, known as The Kingdom of the Shades is one of the most celebrated pieces in classical ballet. The PKF – Prague Philharmonia will be conducted by the renowned Valery Ovsyanikov, Music Director at the Vaganova Ballet Academy, Conductor at the Mariinsky and Mikhailovsky Theatres in St Petersburg and Guest Conductor of companies around the world from the Americas through Europe to the Far East.
La Bayadère will be presented on Thursday the 11th and Friday the 12th of October at 7:00 pm and on Saturday the 13th at 4:00 pm.