Swan Lake - Show Information
Prince Siegfried, heir to the kingdom, has to chose a wife before his birthday but because he cannot marry for love he decides to escape in the night.This beautiful ballet depicts a tragic love story. It is the story of a lovely woman who is trapped inside the body of a bird, thanks to a spell cast upon her by the evil Von Rothbart. In the daytime, she has the body of a swan. During the nighttime hours, she has a woman's body. The ballet dwells on the resolution of problems concerning this situation.
As the ballet opens, the prince must announce whom he will marry at a ball on his birthday. He desperately wants to marry for love but cannot seem to be allowed this desire. He goes into the wood, sees a flock of swans and follows them. Taking aim at one of the swans, he is intrigued by her since she seems more nearly a woman than a swan. As they dance, he learns that she is Odette, one of a set of twins. Von Rothbart had already put a spell on her which can be cured by having a man express his love to her.
Von Rothbart comes upon the scene. As the prince threaten the life of Von Rothbart, Odette cautions him that the spell cannot be undone if Von Rothbart dies before the spell is cured.
In the third and fourth acts, Odette's twin sister enters the picture and confuses the prince. The twin sisters are portrayed by the same dancer so it is easy to see how confusion can occur. One of the early dancers to dance the dual parts of Odette and her twin performed 32 fouettes in a row. Later dancers of the dual part are now expected to also perform 32 fouettes in a row.
Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake is continually one of the favorites among dancers. They respect the technical challenges presented by the ballet plus the strong emotional appeal.
| Music | Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky |