La Bayadère

In ancient India, the temple dancer Nikiya and the warrior Solor swear eternal love to one another in secret, unaware that the High Brahmin, who also loves Nikiya, has witnessed their vow. When the Rajah promises Solor to his own daughter Gamzatti, the High Brahmin betrays the lovers out of jealousy, but his plan backfires when the Rajah instead orders Nikiya's death; Gamzatti, having overheard everything, arranges for Nikiya to be killed with a poisoned snake hidden in a basket of flowers. Grief-stricken and smoking opium, Solor dreams of Nikiya among the spirits of the dead in the Kingdom of the Shades, where the two are reconciled. In the ballet's original ending, Nikiya's spirit returns to disrupt Solor's wedding to Gamzatti, and the gods destroy the temple in vengeance, reuniting the lovers in death.