Event info

The Swan Lake is one of the most popular ballets and belongs to the international standard repertoire of the classical ballet. In spite of all, this ballet is a brilliant work of a brilliant composer Tchaikovsky and remains already since centuries a public magnet.

The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger. The ballet was premiered by the Bolshoi Ballet on 4 March 1877 at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. Although it is presented in many different versions, most ballet companies base their stagings both choreographically and musically on the 1895 revival of Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, first staged for the Imperial Ballet on 15 January 1895, at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg.

The popular classical ballet tells the tale of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. While hunting, Prince Siegfried sees an amazing swan. He takes aim to shoot, but the swan turns into a beautiful woman named Odette. She tells the prince that she is a princess who has come under the spell of an evil sorcerer. During the day she must be a swan and swim in a lake of tears. At night she is allowed to be a human again. The spell can only be broken if a prince promises eternal fidelity to her. She tells Prince Siegfried that if he refuses her she must remain a swan forever. Prince Siegfried falls in love with Odette, but an evil sorcerer puts a spell on him, making him accidentally propose to another woman. Princess Odette threatens to kill herself and throws herself into the lake. The Prince feels sorry and jumps into the lake with her. The couple become lovers in the afterlife.

Music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov
Libretto by Vladimir Begitchev and Vasiliy Geltzer
Set design and costumes by Vyacheslav Okunev
Light design by Rainer Kornhuber
Duration: 2 acts (60 min and 50 min), intermission 20 min

Cast

Odette/ Odylle                
E. Bogutskaya / I. Khandazhevsaya
Prince Siegfried             
A. Abaturov / N. Moskalets
Rotbart                             
I. Kazakov
The Court Jester             
A. Bogutskiy / S. Dubrovin
Pas de trois                      
 J. Kichigina/A. Prokhorova / Ai Yanokawa / A. Tarasov