"La Bayadère" drabbles by Neville Hunt

All fall down

La Bayadère #2

Act 3, the opium worn off, the wedding moved on. Our hero Solor, being forced to tie the knot to Gamzatti, his paramour’s killer, wasn’t happy. The ceremony in the temple was prefaced by an idol dancing energetically. His body of bronze made ladies’ hearts pound.

Then who should interrupt things but Nikiya, the dead lover, striving to keep her man for eternity. The costumes and colours were stunning, the dancers were stunned, before they were stoned by falling masonry as the temple collapsed. All dead, but at least the lovers were in Paradise together, forever.

Nuñez, Muntagirov, Osipova... Fabulous!

La Cryatear

La Bayadère #1

We both nodded off in the first act. Oh dear... what’s to come?

Then Act 2... in the Kingdom of the Shades... sideswiped our emotions. With the hero hallucinating on opium, mourning his dead paramour, she multiplied before his eyes!

24 corps de ballet in sparkling white came down a ramp, one by one. Enter, perform arabesque, move down making way for the next. Every new dancer meant another arabesque for all. So many simultaneous arabesques, I lost count. Then they zigzagged. The spectacle and the divine Minkus score moved me to tears. Blub, blub, blub!

Then came Act 3...