Swept up into the magical realm of swans (and birds), this elegiac phantasmagoria of variations and ensembles in line and music is the signature work of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo.
The story of Odette, the beautiful princess turned into a swan by the evil sorcerer, and how she is nearly saved by the love of Prince Siegfried, was not so unusual a theme when Tchaikovsky first wrote his ballet in 1877 – the metamorphosis of mortals to birds, and vice versa, occurs frequently in Russian folklore.
The original Swan at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow was treated unsuccessfully; a year after Tchaikovsky’s death in 1893, the St. Petersburg Maryinsky Ballet produced the version we know today.
Perhaps the world’s best known ballet, its appeal seems to stem from the mysterious and pathetic qualities of the heroine juxtaposed with the canonized glamour of 19th century Russia.
- Music by:
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Choreography after:
Lev Ivanovich Ivanov - Costumes by:
Mike Gonzales - Lighting by:
Kip Marsh - Decor by:
Clio Young