'La Bayadere' with premiere at the Plovdiv Opera

Opera Plovdiv presented on January 30 at 18:00 and on February 2 at 19:00 the premiere of one of the most spectacular ballet works - 'La Bayadere' to the music of Ludwig Minkus and choreography by Marius Petipa. The classic title reveals the tragic love story of an Indian dancer in a temple. It is based on Goethe's ballad "The God and the Bayaderka", borrowed from an ancient Indian work. 

The production is the directorial debut of the prima ballerina Vesa Tonova, who created the performance for the stage of Opera Burgas in 2018 and thanks to the good partnership between the two institutions puts "Bayaderka" with the ballet dancers of Opera Plovdiv. After intensive rehearsals with the international troupe, which began at the beginning of the new season, three cancelled premieres due to extraordinary circumstances, 'La Bayadere' will captivate the audience with precisely made theatrical and dance elements.

Amanda Roja (Brazil) will play the role of the bayadere Nikia, and her rival - Princess Gamzati, will play Mara Salvaggio (Italy). The warrior Solor, for whose love the two heroines are fighting, is played by Nikola Hadjitanev - prime minister soloist of the Sofia Opera and Ballet.

The scenography of 'La Bayadere' is the work of famous artist and set designer Ivan Tokadzhiev, who transports the audience in an authentic atmosphere, and the stage outfits of the costume designer Tsvetanka Stoynova recreate the colour and splendour of the East.

The performance is staged very rarely due to the high level of performance, the necessary financial resources and a large number of participating ballet dancers, and its implementation is a request for the level and prosperity of each theatre.

'La Bayadere' was established in 1877. The work was a huge success at its premiere. The original work is in four acts and seven scenes but is almost always set in an abbreviated version of the Kirov Ballet from 1941. The Shadow Scene itself is inspired by Dore's illustrations to Dante Alighieri's Paradise. The work is best known for the scene from the Kingdom of Shadows, recognized in ballet as a masterpiece in corps de ballet. It was only after its creation that scenes similar in vision and significance appeared in other examples of ballet art.

'La Bayadere' reveals the tragic love story of the Indian dancer in the temple of Nikia and the warrior Solor. Their love angers the great Brahmin, secretly in love with the dancer, and Princess Gamzati, in love with Solor. The Rajah, Gamzati's father, promised his daughter Solor a husband. The vengeful princess hides a snake in a flower basket destined for Nikia. During the bayadere dance at a temple celebration, she was fatally bitten by a snake. The Brahmin offers an antidote to Nikia in exchange for her love, but she refuses. As she dies, she reminds Solor of his oath of eternal fidelity. Solor is devastated by the death of his beloved. Under the influence of opiates, he is transported to the Kingdom of Shadows, where he meets the spirit of Nikia. Returning to reality, he cannot shake the memory of the meeting. At the wedding of Gamzati and Solor, before the exchange of oaths of allegiance, the temple was destroyed by an earthquake. They all perish, and the spirits of Nikia and Solor finally gather in the afterlife.

Choreography - Marius Petipa

Directed and directed by Vesa Tonova

Costumes - Tsvetanka Petkova Stoynova

Scenography - Ivan Tokadzhiev

Tutor - Yordan Krastev

Pom. director - Maya Lacheva

NIKIA - Amanda Roja

SOLOR - Nikola Hadjitanev

GAMZATI - Mara Salvaggio

MADHAVAYA - Amedeo Junta

BRAMIN - Bailey Webster

RAJA - Dian Raychev

GOLDEN GOD - Andrea Ginevra

PAS D'ACTION - Elena Kuchkova, Sakura Iida, Matilde Ferrari, Carol Maninetti, Andrea Ginevra, Flavio Alberto Valentino

HINDUS DANCE - Alexandra Savova, Amedeo Junta, Todor Stoyanov

SERVANT - Galina Gesheva

PAS DE TROIS shadows - Lilyana Popova, Sakura Iida, Carol Maninetti

VARIATIONS - Elena Kuchkova, Matilde Ferrari, Fumi Shibutani

Tickets for 'La Bayadere' at the Ticket office of the Opera Plovdiv in the House of Culture and online at eventim.bg.