Dutch National Ballet ‘corrects’ La Bayadère in a new version

In March 2026 Dutch National Ballet will debut a new production of La Bayadère, based on a revised libretto that “recalibrates the historical context” to correct its inherent cultural appropriation.

“Cultural appropriation happens,” says Britannica, “when members of a majority group adopt cultural elements of a minority group in an exploitative, disrespectful, or stereotypical way.” Hemce the Bayadère problem.

Co-director of the new production and director of Dutch National Ballet, Ted Brandsen, says:

Just as you don’t just replace a Rembrandt with a new painting, you don’t let such wonderful ballet heritage go to waste either. The only way to preserve it is to keep performing it. That can only be done by putting it in a different context, away from the orientalist gaze of the nineteenth century and towards equality.

This new adaptation will preserve the choreographic jewels of Marius Petipa, and additional choreography by Vakhtang Chabukiani and Vladimir Ponomarev, but will be based on a revised libretto that “recalibrates the historical context”. The creative team comprises Rachel Beaujean, Dr Priya Srinivasan, Kalpana Raghuraman and Ted Brandsen, who have collaborated on developing a new storyline that moves away from the orientalist perspective of the original version.

Petipa created La Bayadère in 1877. He had never visited India, although he was inspired by a group of Indian dancers who toured Europe between 1838 and 1839, and he consulted various sources. His production presented a fantasized image of an India perceived as exotic through Western eyes. Critical dance theorist, historian and choreographer Srinivasan has conducted extensive historical research and together with the other three co-directors, has rewritten the concept and libretto for the new staging with great attention to the historical and cultural context.

Srinivasan says:

My background as researcher and choreographer helps this production hold a mirror to Dutch colonial presence in India to find real people who inform the characters in the new libretto. We are doing that in many ways, by collaborating with Indian artists from hereditary, mixed race and caste oppressed communities in South India and the Netherlands. The goal now for our new version of La Bayadère is to honour the multiplicity of complex unequal pasts and create new equitable futures for the ballet world.

So the new version of La Bayadère will pay tribute to Indian artists who have been lost in time – Amany and her company of dancers and musicians, an Indian dancer who, through their performances in nineteenth-century Europe, influenced ballet, music and opera. Amany and Nikiya (the real and imaginary) symbolise generations of bajadères, the Indian temple dancers whose status was lost through colonisation, nationalism and caste oppression. Through projections in working with hereditary and mixed-race artists, some of whom are Dutch descendants from South India, including Dr Yashoda Thakore and Tenma, some of the lost voices are remembered, recognising their lasting impact on ballet and other Western cultural forms.

The sets and costumes by Jérôme Kaplan are inspired by seventeenth-century cosmopolitan India and Netherlands, reflecting the presence of many cultures but also refer to other times and cultures. Deputy artistic director of the Dutch National Ballet, Rachel Beaujean, is responsible for the staging and additional choreography

The new story

The new La Bayadère is set in Southeast India, where the Dutch established several trading posts during the era of the Dutch East India Company. The sincere love between Nikiya, a spiritual temple dancer, and Solor, a dancer and captain of mixed heritages, challenges the expectations of race and caste in the original work.

Solor allows himself to be manipulated by the Dutch governor William Carel Hartsinck, who forces him to marry his daughter, Alida. When Alida discovers that Solor already loves another, she decides to eliminate Nikiya. Overcome with grief and guilt at her departure, Solor drifts into a dream state. In the iconic ‘Kingdom of the Shades’, he sees Nikiya once more, but she remains out of reach. The consequences of his wrong choices will haunt him forever.

Dutch/Indian choreographer, Kalpana Raghuraman, is Creative Associate of Dutch National Ballet:

We are able to take this different approach partly because of [Dr Priya Srinivasan]’s historical and archaeological research, and because of my cultural and artistic input as a Dutch/Indian choreographer. We are turning the gaze and thereby adding a layer to the work that makes it matching to our times. We find it incredibly progressive that Dutch National Ballet is taking this approach.

Rachel Beaujean explains her adjustments of the choreography:

The biggest change is at the beginning of the ballet. Here the characters are sometimes so different that the movements no longer match their personalities. For example, that corrupt merchant does not move the same as the original High Brahmin. When creating new steps, I let the libretto guide me, and I try to make the movements really tell the story.

The Dutch National Ballet’s new production of La Bayadère can be seen from Thursday 26 March to Sunday 19 April 2026 at the Dutch National Opera & Ballet in Amsterdam.

Credits

Choreography: Marius Petipa

With scenes from productions by:
Vakhtang Chabukiani, Vladimir Ponomarev, Konstantin Sergeyev, Nikolai Zubkovsky

Staging and additional choreography: Rachel Beaujean

Co-directors new concept development and adapted libretto: Dr Priya Srinivasan, Kalpana Raghuraman, Rachel Beaujean and Ted Brandsen

Historical research and new concept: Dr Priya Srinivasan
Cultural Consultants India: Tenma, Dr Yashoda Thakore
Music: Ludwig Minkus
Set and costume design: Jérôme Kaplan
Lighting design: James F. Ingalls
Video design: Bowie Verschuuren
Musical adaptations: Koen Kessels and Olga Khoziainova
Musical accompaniment: Dutch Ballet Orchestra conducted by Koen Kessels (until 5 April) / Alexei Baklan (from 8 April)

Performances at Dutch National Opera & Ballet, Amsterdam

Thursday 26 March (world premiere) until Sunday 19 April 2026

Ticket sales for La Bayadère start on 28 August 2025 at 12 p.m.

Photo header: Campaing image La Bayadère

Photographer: Hugo Thomassen

Dancer: Olga Smirnova

Gramilano Editor

Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Carla Fracci.

Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.

He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.