SHAPE THE FUTURE OF THE ROH HELP US BETTER UNDERSTAND OUR AUDIENCES

[FLOSS]

I, for one, would not be unhappy if I never saw the Makarova production of La Bayadere again. As to what might be seen as culturally insensitive in a ballet which is essentially Giselle transposed to the banks of the Ganges with the Bathilde figure transformed into a jealous murderess I suspect that the problem in Bow Street is the blacked up dancers who appear as the fakirs in the first act. At least the Royal Ballet does not don't have to explain away the Manu dance or the drum dancers who in their current Russian incarnation look more like a cabaret turn than something devised by Petipa or his assistants. The real problem it seems to me  is that La Bayadere is clearly a nineteenth century orientalist ballet. In the Markarova version with its revised narrative it is reduced to an orientalist nonsense and its heavily adapted and modernised choreography means  it cannot lay claim to the protection sometimes afforded to authentic nineteenth  century theatrical works of art .

 

As staged by Ratmansky using the Stepanov materials La Bayadere is far more coherent; does not make Nikiya's death scene compete with high octane dancing provided by Solor and Gamzatti and its version of the Kingdom of the Shades is not staged as a super smooth production number. Instead  that scene suggests that we are seeing Nikiya's image being refracted by raindrops which I believe is what the scene was intended to convey to the audience. But however interesting and culturally sensitive a staging of this ballet may be and the Berlin staging seemed very sensitive to me the fact remains that the depiction of some of the characters in La Bayadere causes difficulties as some, such as the aya and the fakirs, seem  to verge on caricature. I would happily settle for a fine staging of the Kingdom of the Shades with thirty two shades as an acceptable substitute whether it is Nureyev's version of the scene or that staged by Ratmansky in Berlin. It is this scene which is the choreographic masterpiece and needs to be seen not the orientalist hokum which surrounds it.

 

If we lost La Bayadere and Don Q. which was ineptly staged and does not suit the company we might be able to make a stronger case that we should see more of the company's twentieth century repertory and in particular see Ashton's longer works on a more regular basis.All the time recent versions of La Bayadere and Don Q. are protected by the label of "nineteenth century classic" and are not recognised as recent adaptations of old works they will be treated as being of greater cultural value than works created by the company's founder choreographer.

 

 

 

[DVDfan]

I think a great many of the minor characters in ballets are close to caricature - the  peasants in act 1 of Giselle, for example, the national dancers in Act 3 of Swan Lake, the Hungarian Officers in Mayerling. After all, in Bayadere, all the characters are Indian, including Solor, Nikiya, the High Brahmin and the Raja. It's not as if there were Europeans anywhere around.

That said, I do see why people would be uneasy with the fakirs and the aya because they represent a particular negative stereotype that has been used in a racist context, and in addition they are not necessary to the plot.

[Dawnstar]

I really regret not seeing Bayadere when the ROH last did it. Unfortunately it was just after I'd seen the RB live for the first time, in Mayerling, so I wasn't in time for Bayadere booking & only saw the cinecast. I've been kicking myself for the last couple of years that I didn't make more of an effort to try to get a return or rush ticket, as it now looks like I may never get to see it live.

[Sim]

6 hours ago, DVDfan said:

I think a great many of the minor characters in ballets are close to caricature - 

And then there are the Rustics in Ashton’s The Dream.  I wonder if they will be allowed in the future?  In addition to the rumblings about Alain in Fille, we might end up being denied these Ashton ballets as well.  

[JNC]

It’s sad that it seems to be almost taken for granted now that we won’t see Bayadere again in London.

 

I know there was mention of cultural appropriation and the sensitivity of the production in some of the reviews at the time, but overall from memory it received good reviews and sold well. 
 

I for one love the settings and costumes - they’re so different from the other tutu classics. The story is melodramatic, but also when cast right can be deeply affecting the same as Swan Lake/Giselle which depict women as birds so come on! It’s also not meant to depict any accurate or real India/South Asia - no more so then Swan Lake/Giselle depicts a real medieval Germany? I appreciate there will be some underlying stereotypes of non-western cultures in Petipa’s time, but think we can easily remove those from more newer productions? 
 

For example, if the problematic things are the fakirs and the Ayah, I’m pretty sure it’s relatively easy to either change their characters/costumes and how they’re referred to (eg the Ayah is essentially a Nanny/Nurse type role the same as in Romeo and Juliet) without needing to discard the rest of the ballet in its entirety. 
 

Another option (which feels slightly drastic and unnecessary in my opinion, but a better option than the Royal Ballet never doing Bayadere again) is to just reset it - akin to what Rojo did for Raymonda. New costumes, new sets, tweak the story a bit - but keep all the choreography bar maybe some minor adaptions required if fakirs etc are cut. 
 

Ultimately if people don’t like Bayadere they don’t need to see it. I agree that racist and culturally insensitive depictions have no place on the modern stage (but see for example Madame Butterfly which I find very offensive, for some reason people don’t seem to kick up as much fuss about that but it essentially yellow face and depicts the Japanese as happy to prostitute out their women to “superior” white people?).
 

I personally don’t find the Makarova version racist or insensitive - but I appreciate I am not from that culture so I may be ignorant. (The Bolshoi continuing to use blackface of course is an entirely different story and deeply wrong and offensive.)  For me it’s all fantasy - fairies, willi, magical swans don’t exist, this is just another fantastical creation. It’s “inspired” by the “orient”, which actually is a term I find problematic as it ‘others’ other cultures and groups together a very large continent with many different cultures and people under one banner; but simply because something is inspired by something it doesn’t mean it is meant to be accurate or insensitive cultural appropriation by default! 
 

In short - I’m definitely in the bring back Bayadere camp - it’s got amazing choreography and lots of scope for excellent dramatic acting for the new principals. 

[Peanut68]

Very well reasoned JNC - thank you! 

[alison]

I am perturbed by the reference to the fakirs in the Royal Ballet's La Bayadère being "blacked up".  The body paint is in fact grey (or shows up that way on stage, at least), and is supposed to represent the ash from the sacred fire smeared on their bodies.  It is definitely not "skin colour".

[jmhopton]

I hope it isn't true that Bayadere will vanish from the RB rep as its one of my favourite ballets. I love the drama  music and choreography.  That said, like Floss, the RB version is one of my least favourite of any I've seen in 30 years 'Bayadere watching'. Dislike most of the costumes,  not overly keen on the set, don't like the reconstructed last act, especially as so much has to be ditched to make way for it, and don't like what Makharova has done to the choreography either. My favourite Bayadere is still POB and I was thrilled when they opened the Lowry with it and went every night. However I've put up with the RB production and still manage to enjoy it, as I know there's no way Kevin is going to prioritise the expense of staging a new production. When it was staged the last time (2019?) there was a lot of talk then about its suitability or not and Kevin went out of his way to stress its 'fantasy', story aspects and the fact it wasn't meant to be in any way an authentic representation of India. Perhaps this would suffice again.  It seems difficult enough these days getting a programme I really want to see (such as Ashton and a lot of the 20th century rep) without having to compete with woke ideals as well. 

[Sophoife]

Greg Horsman (Australian dancer now choreographer and ballet master) did a La Bayadère that I saw performed by West Australian Ballet (co-produced by Queensland and Royal Winnipeg Ballets).

 

A review on ArtsHub described the plot as "this production of La Bayadère takes place in 1855. The armies of the princely kingdom of Cooch Behar and the British East India Company are at war, and a treaty is negotiated to end the hostilities. This treaty includes the arranged marriage of the Maharajah’s son Prince Solor, to Edith, the daughter of the British Governor-General." But Solor of course is in love with the temple dancer Nikiya.

 

Yes, it's as dismal as it sounds. And AS IF the British GG would espouse his white daughter to "a native" in 1855! People should be careful what they wish for.