The ballet La Bayad�re (�The Temple Dancer� or �The Temple Maiden�) was created in 1877 for famed French choreographer Marius Petipa to music by Ludwig Minkus (1826-1917). In four act and seven tableaux, the ballet tells the story of the bayad�re Nikiya and the warrior Solor, lovers who are beset by jealous rivals, arranged marriages beyond their control, murder, an opium-fueled hallucination of the afterlife, and a vengeful god that destroys the temple and everybody in it as revenge for Nikiya�s murder. It was first performed on February 4, 1877, by the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia. It was hailed as a success and masterpiece immediately after the premiere, particularly The Kingdom of the Shades scene in Act II, an excerpt which remains a major standalone work for the ballet repertoire. Modern performances of La Bayad�re are almost always derived from a 1941 version sated for the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet by Vladimir Ponomarev and Vakhtang Chabukiani, which incorporates additional music by Minkus, Drigo, and Pugni. Act II takes place after Nikiya is killed by a concealed venomous snake. A depressed Solor smokes opium, resulting in a vision of Nikiya�s spirit dwelling in the Kingdom of the Shades, a nirvana in the Himalayas. The two lovers reconcile among the shades of other bayad�res in a Pas de deux, then Solor is awakened just in time for his arranged marriage to another woman. This orchestration of Act II has been completed by William McDermott. Instrumentation: 2.2.2.2: 4.2.3.0: Timp.Perc(2): Harp: Str (4-4-3-3-3 in set).