Click here to download pdf

Click here for Photo Gallery

FOR RELEASE ON FEB. 21, 2010
CONTACT: SHAUNA TYSOR
KIM ESPINOSA
713 535 3226
pr@houstonballet.org

HOUSTON BALLET UNVEILS THE WORLD PREMIERE OF
STANTON WELCH'S SPECTACULAR STAGING OF
LA BAYADÈRE

Houston Ballet’s First-Ever Staging of
This Full-Length 19th Century Classic

British Designer Peter Farmer's
Lavish Scenery and Costumes Inspired by Bollywood

Houston, Texas – From February 25 – March 7, 2010, Houston Ballet presents the highlight of its 40th anniversary season, the world premiere of La Bayadère, a historic classic newly staged by Houston Ballet Artistic Director Stanton Welch and set in royal India of the past. La Bayadère is a dramatic ballet of eternal love, mystery, fate, vengeance and justice intertwined to tell the story of Nikiya, a temple dancer, her lover Solor, and the vengeance that keeps them apart, at least in this life. Houston Ballet will give seven performances of La Bayadère at Wortham Theater Center in downtown Houston. Tickets may be purchased by calling 713 227 2787 or by visiting www.houstonballet.org.

"We wanted a grand classical ballet as the centerpiece for the 40th anniversary season, and this will be a big Bollywood-like production. It's a colorful story that's sexy, provocative and very dramatic," commented Houston Ballet Artistic Director Stanton Welch.

The choreography for La Bayadère's famous Kingdom of the Shades section will remain intact in Mr. Welch's staging as the third act of the production. This world-renowned part of La Bayadère showcases 24 female dancers in white tutus, executing 38 synchronized and seamless arabesques while descending onto the stage, and is one of the purest forms of ballet-blanc, or white tutu ballet. "The Kingdom of the Shades is a challenging segment because it requires such control and precision from the corps de ballet women," says Mr. Welch. "There are few works in the classical repertoire that require more precision from the corps de ballet." The Kingdom of the Shades is so popular it is often performed on its own. Houston Ballet first performed The Kingdom of the Shades scene, staged by Ben Stevenson after Marius Petipa, in March 1994 and revived it in 1998.

La Bayadère is the second new staging of a 19th century classic that Mr. Welch has created for Houston Ballet, after Swan Lake in 2006. He has choreographed a number of full-length story ballets for The Australian Ballet, including Madame Butterfly (1995), Cinderella (1997) and The Sleeping Beauty (2005); as well as two original evening-length works for Houston Ballet Tales of Texas (2004) and Marie (2009).

English Designer Peter Farmer Combines Traditional
Indian Costumes and Dreamlike Sets
for a Storybook Experience

English designer Peter Farmer, who has a long and rich history with Houston Ballet, will create the spectacular scenery and costumes for La Bayadère. Mr. Farmer has created eight full-length productions for Houston Ballet since 1972 and is one of the few designers to have worked with three of the company's directors: Nina Popova, Ben Stevenson and Stanton Welch. "It was such a pleasure working with Stanton on Madame Butterfly in 1995 for The Australian Ballet that I was so pleased when he asked me to design La Bayadère," commented Mr. Farmer. "Stanton's vision, as in all his works, is visually exciting and adventurous. I've always been an admirer of the great works of the 19th century. And, I've always admired La Bayadère and have wanted to design it for some time. It's a big challenge for me, and for the company, to have the chance to make the production new again."

The focus of Mr. Farmer's costume designs are brightly colored traditional Indian attire, such as harem pants and saris, for the first and second acts. "Peter's scenic design is not a realistic depiction of India. It will be more like looking through an old picture book from western culture with a view of romanticized India," commented Mr. Welch. "The production will have a very painterly look, almost reminiscent of Monet, that will give it dreaminess and romance." 

 Mr. Welch's lavish new production of La Bayadère will include 121 costumes, comprised of 568 items. This also includes 26 new handmade white tutus for the Kingdom of the Shades scene.

Born in Luton, England in 1941, Mr. Farmer's prolific career in scenic and costume design includes over 300 productions in dance and theater. Mr. Farmer was first commissioned for his designs in 1964 for Jack Carter's production of Agrionia, performed by the London Dance Theatre. The following year, he was asked to create designs for Ballet Rambert's Giselle. This ballet has since been associated with Mr. Farmer and led him to create designs for leading ballet companies around the world. His designs for ballet productions include Swan Lake (Royal Winnipeg Ballet), The Sleeping Beauty (Munich Opera House and The Royal Ballet), Manon (Houston Ballet, Vienna State Opera and The Australian Ballet), Coppélia (Birmingham Royal Ballet) as well as several modern pieces for the London Contemporary Dance Theatre. His designs for drama include The Night of the Iguana, A Woman of No Importance and What Every Woman Knows. Other productions that he has designed for Houston Ballet include Frederic Franklin's productions of The Nutcracker (1972) and Coppélia (1974); Ben Stevenson's stagings of Cinderella (1976), The Sleeping Beauty (1978), Peer Gynt (1981) and Lady in Waiting (1984); Peter Wright's staging of Giselle (1979);  Sir Kenneth MacMillan's Manon (1992); and Patricia Olade's one-act work Conceptual Contrast (1989).

Houston Ballet's La Bayadère Music is a
Unique Take on a Classic

The original production of La Bayadère was set to the music of Viennese composer Ludwig Minkus (1826-1917). The composer of over 20 ballets, Minkus was an excellent craftsman in the style of ballet music of his day and one of the most important composers in 19th century Russian ballet. Born in Vienna in 1826, Minkus was a violinist, ballet conductor and composer. From 1864-1871, he was the official ballet composer at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. In 1871, he was transferred to St. Petersburg, where he worked until 1891.

The only original score of La Bayadère exists in Russia, but has never been available in the west. In 1980 former American Ballet Theatre prima ballerina Natalia Makarova commissioned John Lanchbery to reconstruct the original Minkus score for her staging of La Bayadère at American Ballet Theatre. Acts I and II of the resulting score are based on Minkus, but Act III was composed by Lanchbery, adding a bit of Hollywood glamour. 

Stanton Welch's La Bayadère uses Minkus's score as arranged by Mr. Lanchbery as a starting point. Since February 2009, Houston Ballet Music Director Ermanno Florio and the late music librarian Robert Bridges tailored the score for Mr. Welch's production.  

"Both Stanton's version and Lanchbery's original score are in three acts," explains Mr. Florio, "But where there are three large scenes in Lanchbery's Act I, Stanton's version only uses the first two scenes of the original Act I as his new Act I.  The third scene of Act I stands alone as Stanton's new Act II. Stanton joins the original Act III and IV as his new Act III."

A 19th Century Fascination with Spiritualism and Exoticism

A tragic soap opera set in an Indian royal court; La Bayadère blends exoticism, white tutus, venomous snakes and opium. In his book, The World's Great Ballets, critic John Gruen places La Bayadère in the following historical context: "The creators of Romantic ballet shared with other artists of the time a fascination with the spiritualism and exoticism of the Orient. The most notable early dance treatment of such themes was Filippo Taglioni's opera-ballet Le Dieu et la Bayadère, based on a poem by Goethe. More than 40 years later, Marius Petipa conceived of the idea for his own Oriental ballet. At its premiere on February 4, 1877, at the Bolshoi Theatre in St. Petersburg, La Bayadère was a triumph: it catered to the Russian taste for spectacular theatrics, exotic settings, and convoluted, melodramatic plot lines, yet also contained classical choreography of breath taking purity."

Marius Petipa (1818-1910), the "father of classical ballet," was born in Marseille, France in 1818, and produced over 60 full-evening pieces, including works that have become the foundation of the classical ballet repertoire such as The Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake. Swan Lake and La Bayadère share many similarities: Both were premiered in 1877, and both made spectacular use of the corps de ballet in performance to symphonic scores. (Although the original 1877 production of Swan Lake was choreographed by Julius Reisinger; Petipa, with Lev Ivanov,  later staged the definitive version of the work for the Maryinsky Theater in 1895.)

Although La Bayadère remained in the repertory of many Russian companies throughout the 20th century, it was little seen in the west until 1961 when The Kirov Ballet performed The Kingdom of the Shades scene at The Royal Opera House in London. In 1963, Rudolph Nureyev staged a version of The Kingdom of the Shades for England's The Royal Ballet. In 1980, the great Russian ballerina Natalia Markova staged the first full-length production of La Bayadère in the west for American Ballet Theatre to critical acclaim. In 1992, Mr. Nureyev also staged a full-length version for Paris Opera Ballet.

Although the exact origin of the story of La Bayadère is unknown, it is an example of 19th century Romantic ballets set in an exotic location with a fascination with the Orient, spiritualism, triangular relationships, ethereal beings and melodramatic plot lines. A number of operas and ballets were created about "bayadères" – Indian temple dancers – at that time. Despite the ballet's setting in ancient India, Ludwig Minkus's music and Petipa's choreography barely made any gesture to traditional forms of Indian dance and music, as the ballet was a vision of the Orient seen through 19th century European eyes, particularly since it was produced during the height of the British Raj (Queen Victoria of England took the title Empress of India in 1877). Petipa's choreography contained various elements that reminded the spectator of the ballet's setting, but he did not stray from the classical ballet canon. Petipa was not interested in ethnographic accuracy in any part of the ballet with regards to choreography. It was the fashion of the time, whether a ballet was set in China, India, or the Middle East The ballet master rarely - if ever - considered including traditional native dance forms.

Houston Ballet's performances of La Bayadère are generously underwritten by ConocoPhillips, Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. and The Wortham Foundation.

La Bayadère Synopsis

Mythic India. Land of four-faced Lord Brahma, god of creation, and four-armed Kali, fearsome goddess of destruction. Land of the turbulent Ganges, river of life. Land of poverty and woven silk. Land of the ferocious man-eating Bengal tiger and the delicate exquisitely colored krait, the tiny serpent whose bite is lethal. Land of the mystic fakir, the magician with his rope trick. Land of the temple dancer, the bayadère, pledged for life to dance only for the gods.

ACT I
Scene 1: The Jungle Temple

Hunting with his younger brother, low-caste Solor tracks and kills the prized Bengal tiger that's been terrorizing the nearby village In its claws he discovers a woman's torn silk sari. From the jungle shadows, the beautiful Nikiya, the bayadère, reveals herself and thanks the young man for saving her life. He is smitten, as is she, but she's wary of what these new feelings imply and what might happen. With the approach of the villagers, she rushes into the sanctity of the temple.

The villagers and Solor's family celebrate the great occasion of Solor's dispatching of the tiger. He will become rich. In reverent pomp, the High Brahmin, his acolytes, and the sacred temple dancers parade from the temple to hear Solor's exploits in saving the village. Attending the Brahmin is Kalum, the wild man and fakir, who prowls along the ground as if part animal. In the thick jungle, he is the Brahmin's eyes. Immediately, Solor recognizes Nikiya, but her religious decorum prevents more than a passing glance. Impressed by the good news that the tiger has been killed, the Brahmin leads all in prayer. Agni, the god of fire, appears from the scared flames to warn of grave danger. In a moment when they're alone, the Brahmin declares his love for Nikiya. Shocked, Nikiya gently rebuffs his advances and reminds him of his devotion to god and that they must only love god. In the tumult of ceremony and celebration, Solor secretly arranges another meeting with Nikiya.

When the festivities end, Solor remains by the temple in hopes that Nikiya will join him. He is overjoyed when she appears. They fall in love and vow to run away as soon as Solor reaps his reward for the tiger hunt. Their tryst has been spied upon by Kalum who rushes to the Brahmin to inform on them. Enraged by Nikiya's dishonesty -- and that she's in love with someone else -- the Brahmin orders the entire temple retinue to the Rajah's palace.

Scene 2: The Rajah's Palace

With the colorful court arrayed, the Rajah bestows upon Solor an opulent reward for saving the village from the man-eating tiger. Not only gold, but the Rajah gives this fine young warrior the hand of his eldest daughter, Gamzatti. Solor is as shocked as his poor parents are overjoyed, but he must pretend to agree so no one will suffer.

The High Priest storms in and, by his demeanor and sacred position, demands an audience with the Rajah. When the court clears, he tells the Rajah of Solor's attachment to a temple dancer, a sacrilegious offense to the gods, as well as an affront to his royal daughter. Furious, the Rajah orders the dancer killed, but the Brahmin quickly convinces him that he has another plan -- to break her heart -- and therefore save Nikiya for himself.

Ajah, Gamzatti's handmaiden, has overheard the Rajah and Brahmin's plot, and tells Gamzatti of Solor's betrayal. Although they don't know who among the dancers her rival might be, Gamzatti and Ajah summon them to an audience with the princess. When Gamzatti announces that she's betrothed and displays a portrait of Solor as her love, Nikiya vehemently protests. "It can't be, he's in love with me!" Desperate, Gamzatti offers her a jeweled necklace to forswear Solor, but Nikiya will not waver. Ajah attacks her with a dagger, but Nikiya wrests it away and slashes Gamzatti's portrait before rushing from the palace.

To console a distraught Gamzatti, Ajah devises a plan for revenge. She summons the Snake Charmer and selects from his poisonous wares a small viper that she will conceal in the basket used at the wedding ceremony. It will be arranged for Nikiya to carry it. Her death is assured.

ACT II
The Palace Gardens

In the luxuriant grounds of the Rajah's palace, the betrothal celebrations are lavish and colorful. Solor has risen far, with his parents and younger brother flush with pride, but he is tentative and reluctant, for he can find no way out of his dilemma. Arrayed in jewels and rich silks, the princess Gamzatti is radiant, but Solor finds only sadness in her beauty.

Ajah's devious plan works splendidly. Heartbroken at Solor's betrayal, Nikiya dances for the couple. At the conclusion, as she embraces the basket, she is fatally bitten. Solor swears eternal love, but she dies in his arms. The Rajah orders Solor removed, and as Gamzatti rushes from the gardens, the Brahmin, overcome, embraces the dead body of Nikiya.

ACT III
Scene 1: A Room in the Palace

Under guard in the palace, Solor is inconsolable. His parents and younger brother attempt to ease his pain but Solor is desperate. The fakir Kalum offers him the mind-numbing intoxication of the hookah, assuring Solor that by smoking the hash pipe he will see his beloved Nikiya.

Scene 2: Kingdom of the Shades

Under a narcoleptic haze, Solor envisions the powerful bird god Garuda, winged messenger of the immortals, who accompanies him into the underworld. There, amid spirits of former temple dancers, he discovers Nikiya, and they are briefly reunited. Their love is rekindled, although, as a shade, like a wisp of smoke, she remains tantalizingly out of human reach.

Scene 3: A Room in the Palace.

Awakened to reality, Solor is commanded by the Rajah to marry Gamzatti or see his family murdered. There is no way out. He agrees.

Scene 4: The Great Temple.

The wedding ceremony commences. During the vows, the shade of Nikiya appears and tells Solor that Gamzatti has killed her. Solor accuses the princess, who denies it. Ajah, who has also seen Nikiya's spirit, confesses that it was her plan and she is glad of it. Overcome by his unconsummated grief, the Brahmin stabs Ajah. Threatened by the Rajah, Solor adamantly refuses to marry Gamzatti. "I would rather die," he defiantly states. Humiliated and betrayed, Gamzatti stabs him. With that outrage, the gods of the temple come alive to punish the desecraters of their holy precinct. The temple collapses, killing all.

In the shattered ruins, Solor and Nikiya are rejoined in their eternal love. They ascend to Paradise. 

###

HOUSTON BALLET’S 40TH ANNIVERSARY
LA BAYADÈRE
FACT SHEET

WHAT: LA BAYADÈRE
("The Temple Dancer")
World Premiere
Music by Ludwig Minkus (1826-1917) La Bayadère, as arranged by John Lanchbery (1923-2003).
Used by permission of Mario Bois and Theodore Presser, publishers.
Choreography by Stanton Welch
Scenic and Costume Designs by Peter Farmer
Lighting by Francis Croese
Houston Ballet Orchestra Conducted by Ermanno Florio

Generously sponsored by:
ConocoPhillips, Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P., The Wortham Foundation

ABOUT THE PROGRAM:
The high point of Houston Ballet's 40th anniversary season will be a spectacular new production of one the great classical works of the 19th century repertoire, featuring choreography by Stanton Welch and lavish scenery and costumes by celebrated English designer Peter Farmer. Set in royal India of the past, La Bayadère is a story of eternal love, mystery, fate, vengeance and justice. The ballet relates the drama of a temple dancer (bayadère), Nikiya, who is loved by Solor, a noble warrior. She is also loved by the High Brahmin, but does not love him in return, as she does Solor.

WHEN: At 7:30 PM on February 25, 27, and March 5, 6, 2010
At 2:00 PM on February 28, and March 6, 7, 2010

WHERE: Brown Theater, Wortham Theater Center
501 Texas Avenue in downtown Houston

TICKETS: Start at $18. Call (713) 227 ARTS or 1 800 828 ARTS
Tickets are also available at www.houstonballet.org and
Houston Ballet Box Office at Wortham Theater Center, 501 Texas Ave. (at Smith St.)

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit Houston Ballet on the Web at www.houstonballet.org