Makarova's Keys to the "Kingdom"

When famed Russian ballerina Natalia Makarova staged the "Kingdom of the Shades" excerpt from "La Bayadère" for American Ballet Theatre in 1974 from her memories of dancing it with the Kirov, audiences were astounded. It had never been seen in this country, making it a historic event, but it was an artistic triumph as well: Its elevation of the classical form to symphonic poetry was a revelation. Makarova constructed a full-length "Bayadère" for ABT in 1980 -- the first Western production -- adding her own account of the lost last act, which the Kirov does not customarily perform.

Last week, Makarova compiled the following written responses to questions about the ballet.

What is most essential to convey to the corps de ballet here?

I try to convey the spiritual significance of "Bayadère," which seems to be absent in ballet nowadays. . . . In [the dancers'] posture, in attitude and how they carry themselves they have to be sublime, out of this world. . . . For particularly in this ballet, the corps de ballet is the leading role and each member of it should feel like a ballerina. I feel they should have the dignity of a ballerina and spirituality.

What are the challenges in dancing the role of Nikiya?

In the "Kingdom of the Shades," for example, the sense of Nikiya coming from another world is arrived at solely by means of her physical image, and those overtones a ballerina can introduce into her plasticity. The most difficult task is to grasp the mystical mood permeating Nikiya's first pas de deux with Solor in this act. . . . It is transcendence beyond the physical. It is absolutely necessary to combine in Nikiya's image the perfection of technique with the serene detachment that promises the forgiveness for which Solor yearns.

Why did you depart from the Kirov tradition you grew up with, and reconstruct the original ending in which Solor is killed and reunited with Nikiya in the afterlife?

The Kirov version as it exists today, although they tried to restore the historical version a few years ago, has the "Shades" as the last act, so it is not complete, not true to the original conception. . . . I feel the Kirov's production has no real ending -- crime with no punishment. And this is a ballet about betrayal and retribution.

-- Sarah Kaufman