The warriors return exhausted from hunting led by Solor, who asks them to be alone, to pray before the Sacred Call. But his real desire is another. So, once they have departed, he asks Fakir Magdayeva to organize the meeting with Nikiya, the beautiful bayadère of the Temple with whom he’s deeply in love. The sunset looms little by little on the stage and, with it, the one of the tragedy. (Act I, Scene I)