Kirov Ballet's La Bayadère

While ballet aficionados will appreciate the company’s technique, others will appreciate the story as a welcome departure from more commonly-performed ballets. The work tells the tale of Nikiya, a temple dancer who is forced to watch as her love, the warrior Solor, is pushed into an arranged marriage with the conniving Gazmatti. Fearing that Solor’s love for Nikiya will ruin her chance at happiness, Gazmatti plants a snake in a basket of flowers which is sent to Nikiya, who believes they have been sent by Solor. The snake leaps out and bites Nikiya, poisoning and killing her. Solor mourns for his lost love, smoking a hookah and eventually falling asleep.

The third and final act of the performance is the most striking. In the movement titled “Kingdom of the Shades”, 32 ballerinas in the company’s corps de ballet begin the act by drawing the audience into a dream sequence where Solor is visited by Nikiya. One by one, the dancers begin an arabesque sequence down a ramp and onto a winding pattern on the stage, until the stage is filled with the impressive grace of almost three dozen dancers simultaneously stretching their legs to the sky. It is a scene that the Kirov is known for, and the company’s performance proved why. It seems otherworldly, too perfect to be real.

Diana Vishneva is brilliant as the doomed temple dancer Nikiya, portraying the many emotions that such a complex role requires. Nikiya's performance was multi-faceted, but at times she was a bit too stern in her interpretation of a temple dancer in love with a warrior. Her sorrow at losing him is believable, but a greater joy at the moments she spent with Solor would have improved her performance. That, and a cookie from the snack counter at intermission - while the Kirov’s dancers have the lithe and lean bodies expected of ballerinas, Vishneva’s ribs were clearly visible in her belly-bearing costumes. Multiple audience members commented on Vishneva’s alarmingly emaciated frame during the performance and at intermission.

Performances of La Bayadère continue through this Sunday in The Kennedy Center’s Opera House.

Photo of "Kingdom of the Shades" by Natasha Razina.