The Goleta School of Ballet and Goleta Ballet Theatre will present the full-length classic ballet La Bayadere at 2 p.m. May 28-29 in the auditorium at San Marcos High School.
Tickets will be $15 at the door, and will be available on the day of the performance starting at 1:15 p.m. at the San Marcos auditorium box office.
La Bayadere tells the story of Solar, a warrior who falls in love with a beautiful temple dancer, Nikiya, but is arranged to be married to Gamzatti, the daughter of a rich nobleman. Gamzatti learns of Solar’s love for Nikiya and summons Nikiya to her palace to tell her of the engagement and to get her to stay away from Solar, but Nikiya does not back down.
When Nikiya is presented a basket of flowers at the engagement party, she believes them to be from Solar, signaling his love for her, but they instead conceal a snake that bites Nikiya and she dies. Feeling remorseful over Nikiya’s death, Solar dreams he has been reunited with her in the famous Kingdom of the Shades sequence. Nikiya’s ghost appears to him, making a final plea to remember the promise of love he made to her.
All of the roles in this production will be danced by local students from the Goleta School of Ballet and its pre-professional training company, Goleta Ballet Theatre. The role of Solar will be danced by SBCC student Jaron Williams. The role of Nikiya will be danced by San Marcos junior Claire Stovall. The role of Gamzatti will be alternated by Dos Pueblos High School senior Amber Wang and San Marcos junior Tara Pederson. The role of the Maid will be danced by Dos Pueblos senior Olivia Anderson.
The Goleta School of Ballet, formerly the GVCC School of Ballet, was founded in 1985 by Artistic Director Lisa Abshere. The school performs five times throughout the year in The Nutcracker, The Nutcracker Tutu Suite for younger students, Works & Process with the Goleta Ballet Theatre, a spring performance and a summer workshop performance. The spring performances are generally full-length classical productions, and previous performances have included Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Don Quixote and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This is the fifth production of La Bayadere that the school has staged.
For more information, click here or call Lisa Abshere at 805.252.1610.
— Emily Maye Abshere is the media director and photographer for the Goleta School of Ballet.