Some Thoughts on Ratmansky’s Reconstruction of Petipa’s “Bayadère”
“La Bayadère”
State Ballet Berlin
Staatsoper unter den Linden
Berlin, Germany
December 28, 2018
by Ilona Landgraf
Copyright © 2019 by Ilona Landgraf
“My Bayadère?…I can’t describe it. It’s the same, but completely different. On one hand it’s less; on the other, it has more details – but these are different details.”
That’s what Alexei Ratmansky said in an interview conducted by Margaret Willis for the January issue of Dancing Times about his recent reconstruction of Marius Petipa’s “La Bayadère” for the State Ballet Berlin. If he can’t describe it, then who?
Nevertheless, much has already been written about this “Bayadère”: Marina Harss posted an extensive review on DanceTabs and Alastair Macaulay covered the piece for the New York Times. All that I can do is add my thoughts and observations. (more…)