Dates

26 March – 19 April 2026

Location

Dutch National Opera & Ballet, Main Stage

Running time

2:15, incl. 1 interval

Tickets

From € 32

La Bayadère
Dancer: Olga Smirnova | Photo: Hugo Thomassen

A reimagined classic

Dutch National Ballet presents a grand, renewed production of La Bayadère. This vibrant adaptation preserves the enchanting dance jewels of Marius Petipa while drawing from a revised libretto that re-examines the historical context. Rachel Beaujean, Kalpana Raghuraman, Dr Priya Srinivasan and Ted Brandsen have collaborated on a new storyline that moves away from the orientalist perspective of the original version. When Petipa created La Bayadère in 1877, he had never visited India. Although he consulted various sources, his production presented a fantasised image of an India perceived as exotic through Western eyes. Following extensive research, this new production rewrites the story with greater attention to its historical and cultural context. 

Rachel Beaujean is responsible for the staging and additional choreography and worked alongside Kalpana Raghuraman, Dr Priya Srinivasan and Ted Brandsen on the concept and libretto. The sets and costumes by Jérôme Kaplan are inspired by seventeenth-century India but also reference other eras and cultures. The music of Ludwig Minkus, whose melodic and rhythmic compositions were instrumental in shaping nineteenth-century classical ballet, forms the musical backbone of this production. 

A tragic love 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 captain of mixed heritage, challenges the expectations of race and caste. However, 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, 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 the wrong choices will haunt him forever. 

Tribute to Amany 

This new version of La Bayadère also pays tribute to Amany, an Indian dancer who, through her performances in nineteenth-century Europe, influenced ballet, music and opera. Amany and Nikiya symbolise generations of bajadères—Indian temple dancers whose status was lost through colonisation. Through projections, Amany and her fellow dancers are brought back to life, recognising their lasting impact on ballet and other Western cultural forms. 

Ticket sales start

Ticket sales for La Bayadère start on 28 August 2025 at 12 noon. Don’t want to miss this on-sale moment? Sign up for our ticket alert and receive a notification when ticket sales open.

Performance information

New production

Choreography  Marius Petipa 
Staging and additional choreography  Rachel Beaujean 
Co-directors new concept and adapted libretto  Priya Srinivasan, Kalpana Raghuraman, Rachel Beaujean and Ted Brandsen 
Historical research and advice on diversity and equality  Priya Srinivasan 
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) or Alexei Baklan (from 8 April)

Order tickets

Ticket sales for La Bayadère start on 28 August 2025 at 12 noon. Don’t want to miss this on-sale moment? Sign up for our ticket alert and receive a notification when ticket sales open.

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Dutch Ballet Orchestra
Photo: Hans van den Bogaard

Dutch Ballet Orchestra

Dutch Ballet Orchestra is the leading orchestra for dance in the Netherlands. In every performance, the orchestra searches for inspiring synergy between music and dance, in order to give the audience a magical experience. From classical ballet to modern masterpieces, and from music education to talent development, Dutch Ballet Orchestra inspires the movement in dance.

Dutch Ballet Orchestra

From 1 August 2024, the Flemish conductor Koen Kessels (1961) is the new music director of Dutch National Ballet, and artistic director and principal conductor of Dutch Ballet Orchestra. He took over the baton from Matthew Rowe, who has fulfilled this special dual position since 2013 and who will be returning as principal guest conductor.

Since its inception in 1965, the orchestra has been the proud musical partner of Dutch National Ballet and Nederlands Dans Theater. One important mission of Dutch Ballet Orchestra is investing in the youngest generation of dancers and musicians.

In 2023, for instance, the orchestra issued an open call for young composers, in collaboration with Dutch National Ballet, resulting in a new work that was presented in the Junior Company’s touring programme, Ten. The orchestra has also been working for some years already with the Dutch National Ballet Academy. For example, the orchestra members provide the music for the end-of-year performances Dancers of Tomorrow.

Dutch Ballet Orchestra has also collaborated regularly on innovative – and award-winning – family and school productions. Creatures, in partnership with ISH Dance Collective, won the international Young Audiences Music Award and the production Hansel and Gretel, received various Musical Awards.

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