The legacy of Romanticism and Orientalism in the ballets of Marius Petipa with an Indian motif: La Bayadere (1877) and The Talisman (1889)
Abstract
The article explores the interest of European musical theater, primarily ballet, towards Indian themes and subjects. It focuses mainly on the genesis of two ballets on Indian topic: La Bayadère (1877) and The Talisman (1889), both composed by Marius Petipa in St. Petersburg. By tracing their Romantic and Orientalist legacy along with their literary and cultural influences, the article mentions all those scholars, travelers, writers and artists who left memories, scientific and literary works about India, that inspired M. Petipa for his ‘Oriental’ choreographies. Some previously composed operas and ballets such as Les Bayadères (1810), Le Dieu et la bayadère, ou la courtisane amourouse (1830), Giselle, ou les Wilies (1841) and Sacountala (1858), the prerequisites for M. Petipa’s appeal to stories from Indian mythology, are reveiled here along with those romantic and orientalist writers, and those co-authors of the choreographer, those music composers and the librettists, who closely collaborated with him for the creation of La Bayadère and The Talisman. Finally, a special attention has been given in this article to the dramatic features of the female main characters of those two ballets: the lovely and proud bayadère Nikiya and the apsaras Niriti, as well as to the first interpreters of those enchanting Indian leading roles.
About the Author
T. Leucci
http://ceias.ehess.fr/index.php?3638
Centre d’etudes de l’Inde et de l’Asie du Sud (CEIAS), EHESS-CNRS
France
Centre d’etudes de l’Inde et de l’Asie du Sud (CEIAS), EHESS-CNRS
France
Leucci Tiziana — PhD
54 boulevard Raspail, 75006 Paris, France
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Review
For citations:
Leucci T. The legacy of Romanticism and Orientalism in the ballets of Marius Petipa with an Indian motif: La Bayadere (1877) and The Talisman (1889). Bulletin of Vaganova Ballet Academy. 2019;(6):22-32. (In Russ.)
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