La Bayadère (1877)

La Bayadère is a ballet that was initially created in four acts and seven tableaus by French choreographer Marius Petipa to music by Ludwig Minkus and a libretto by Sergei Khudekov. The ballet was performed as a reward for Russian Prima ballerina Ekaterina Vazem, who created the major character of Nikiya. In 1877, the Imperial Ballet premiered La Bayadère at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The ballet was lauded by contemporary critics and audiences as one of choreographer Petipa's masterpieces from the first performance, notably the sequence in act II The Kingdom of the Shades, which is one of the most celebrated pieces in all of classical ballet. La Bayadère is a narrative of eternal love, mystery, fate, retribution, and justice set in the past of Royal India. The ballet tells the story of Nikiya, a temple dancer (bayadère) who is in love with Solor, a royal warrior. She is loved by the High Brahmin as well, but she doesn't love him back as she does Solor.

Although La Bayadère was regarded as a classic in Russia, it was hardly unknown in the West. Eugenia Feodorova staged the first western performance of the piece The Kingdom of the Shades at Rio de Janeiro's Teatro Municipal. The Kirov dance's presentation of The Kingdom of the Shades at the Palais Garnier in Paris on July 4, 1961, however, sparked widespread interest in this almost forgotten dance from the Imperial/Petipa repertory. The premiere was a great success, and it is regarded as one of the most pivotal moments in ballet history. La Bayadère is considered as one of the most famous ballets of all time as well.