Ma Bayadère

«MA» Bayadère... Why did Jean-Christophe Maillot want to emphasise the paternity of his ballet? Never before had he said: My Cinderella, My Beauty or My Shrew... What if it were not a question of paternity but rather of the mise-en-abîme of his own life, like Flaubert saying «Madame Bovary is me!»? This would be nothing new from the Choreographer-Director of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo who never resolved to separate the artist from the work (otherwise why create this work?). But through this reinterpretation of La Bayadère, Jean-Christophe Maillot takes a further step. The mise-en-abîme that he introduces into his ballets from time to time, here becomes the central theme of the whole piece. Let’s remember what a mise-en-abîme is, a work which shows the creation of a work. The process has been successful: Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with its theatre in the theatre, The Ménines by Velazquez representing a painter painting or Truffaut’s La Nuit Américaine which shows the shooting of a film. And in dance, what does it give? It gives Ma Bayadère, a ballet that shows us a dance company that is preparing its next show. And this show, what is it? La Bayadère of course…

Choreography: Jean-Christophe Maillot
Assistant to the choreographer: Bernice Coppieters
Music: Léon Minkus (versions of John Lanchbery and Kevin Galiè)
Additional music: Bertrand Maillot
Sets and costumes: Jérôme Kaplan assisted by Paul Kaplan
Lighting: Jean-Christophe Maillot & Samuel Thery
Dramaturgy: Jean-Christophe Maillot & Geoffroy Staquet
Duration: 1h50 including intermission

Premiere held on December 27th 2025, Grimaldi Forum Monaco.
With l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, direction : Garrett Keast