The Romantic Era of art saw a shift from male to female dancers on stage. The female dancer became associated with mysticism and fantasy for the benefit of the male audience. With the onset of mysticism, came the idealization of death which was a common theme in many Romantic Ballets. The ballet, La Bayadère, is a Romantic Era ballet that has been adapted multiple times within the past half-century. However in an effort to preserve its relevance to the modern-day audience, three ballerinas - Marianela Nuñez, Natalia Osipova, and Tamara Rojo - have altered the original choreography to present the main character, Nikiya, in a more complex light and defy Romantic ideals. Nuñez empowers the female dancer that was previously disempowered and left an object for male fantasy, Osipova breaks the idealistic illusion that life should end gracefully, and Rojo halts the worship of nature and encourages internal examination of the audience.
Font et al. (Sun,) studied this question.