What it takes to perform classical dance’s most demanding corps de ballet number

The Kingdom of the Shades scene in Act II is one of the ballet La Bayadère’s highlights, in which a series of arabesques across the moonlit stage demonstrates the strength of the corps de ballet and the beauty of Marius Petipa’s choreography. Ballet mistress Samantha Raine and dancers Romany Pajdak and Leticia Dias describe their experience of performing this technically demanding scene. An iconic 19th-century Russian ballet, La Bayadère was originally performed at the Bolshoi Theatre in St Petersburg in 1877, and was regularly performed within the former Soviet Union throughout the 20th century. It remained unknown in the West until the Kirov Ballet toured with the Kingdom of the Shades scene in 1961. Natalia Makarova saw La Bayadère as a child in Leningrad and created this production in 1980. It was first performed by The Royal Ballet in 1989. Find out more