Anna Naumenko as a Shade in La Bayadere

Anna Naumenko (Rus. Анна Науменко) as a Shade in La Bayadere. Music by Ludwig Minkus, original choreography Marius Petipa, revised by Vladimir Ponomaryov and Vakhtang Chabukiani. Conductor Pavel Klinichev. Shot on May 28th 2015 in Mikhailovsky Theatre.

Anna Naumenko (Rus. Анна Науменко) is currently coryphee with Mikhailovsky Ballet. She graduated from the Kiev State Ballet School (class of M. Dobryakova) in 2010. In 2010–2014, she was a soloist of the St Petersburg State Jacobson Theatre. In 2014, she joined the Mikhailovsky Ballet.

The Kingdom of the Shades act

Depressed Solor smokes opium. In his dream-like euphoria he has a vision of Nikiya’s shade (or spirit) in a nirvana among the star-lit mountain peaks of the Himalayas called The Kingdom of the Shades. Here, the lovers reconcile among the opulence and supreme order of the shades of other bayadères (in the original production of 1877 this scene took place in an illuminated enchanted palace in the sky). When Solor awakes, preparations are underway for his wedding to Gamzatti. In the temple where the wedding is to take place the shade of Nikiya haunts Solor during his dances with Gamzatti. When the High Brahmin joins the couple’s hands in marriage, the gods take revenge for Nikiya’s murder by destroying the temple and all of its occupants. In an apotheosis the shades of both Nikiya and Solor are reunited in death and eternal love.

Photo by Jack Devant ballet photography © with kind permission of the Mikhailovsky Theatre and mr Mikhail Messerer, special thanks Valeria Derkach and Darina Timofeeva.