Swan Lake
Of all classical ballet composers, Russian-born Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is arguably the most successful, and Swan Lake,
his 1877 opus, is probably the best-known piece in the history of the genre. Yet, the story of the tragic love of Siegfried for the swan-maiden Odette was not an instant hit. In terms of structure and emotional content, Tchaikovsky’s music
was far ahead of its time, and ballet master Julius Reisinger labelled the score as undanceable.
The premiere on 4 March 1877 in Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre was not well-received. According to one critic, the performance was an "incoherent waving of the legs that continued for hours on end…
The corps de ballet stamp up and down in the same place, waving their arms like a windmill’s vanes".
Despite such scathing criticism, Swan Lake was given forty-one performances, a lot more than a new ballet could
have hoped for at the time. In 1880 and 1882, Belgian-born ballet master Joseph Hansen staged two more productions of Swan Lake in his own choreography. But it was not until 27 January 1895, in the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg,
that Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov presented what is now considered to be the standard version of Swan Lake. This marked the start of a triumphal procession around the world that continues to this day. The ballet has been restaged
by such notable choreographers and performers as Vaslav Nijinsky, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Rudolf Nureyev, and is now like a benchmark by which the fame and status of the performing company is measured.
This coming season, the Royal Ballet of Flanders will be performing Swan Lake in a new choreography by Marcia Haydée, the celebrated muse of John Cranko with the Stuttgart Ballet and present director of the Ballet Municipal de Santiago de Chile.
Haydée does not intend to copy the great examples, like John Cranko’s 1963 version, which she danced many times
with various partners including Richard Cragun and Rudolf Nureyev.
Her version of Swan Lake will, for example, be performed in two acts with just one intermission.
While it is not Haydée’s intention to shorten the ballet, no staging today ever uses the entire score:
"If we were to perform Swan Lake as Tchaikovsky intended it, the piece would last several hours", Haydée explains.
The second act will be danced in Ivanov’s version, as Haydée feels this cannot be bettered. But unlike previous choreographers, she places the dramatic focus on the figure of Von Rothbart.
Von Rothbart is the evil sorcerer who has enchanted Princess Odette and her friends, so that, by day, they exist as swans on a lake formed of the tears of Odette’s parents. When dusk falls, Odette turns into a beautiful woman before the eyes of the young Prince Siegried, who instantly falls in love with her. He pledges his eternal faith and promises to marry her, the only way the spell can be broken. Later, at a ball in the royal castle, Von Rothbart appears in disguise, together with his daughter Odile, on whom he has cast a spell to appear as Odette. Her feathered dress is black rather than white.
The prince falls for the trap and dances with Odile. He introduces her to the court and states his intention to marry her.
At that moment, the prince turns his head. He notices that the real Odette has arrived and at once realises his tragic mistake. But to no avail: by having proposed to Odile, he has failed to keep his pledge to Odette, so that the spell is not broken.
Haydée intends to further develop the role of Rothbart: "To me, Rothbart is like Dracula, a kind of vampire who leads
a double life: half swan, half human. He cannot stand to be lonely, and therefore uses his sorcery. He is the centre of power. Swan Lake exists only by him and for him", the choreographer explains.
Haydée has invited the world renowned character dance specialist Tom Bosma to choreograph the character dances in act III.
It is also an honour for the Royal Ballet of Flanders to once again work with the brilliant stage and costume designer Pablo Nuñez. As in Sleeping Beauty, his spectacular scenography and magical costumes are sure to enchant the audience.
Stadsschouwburg Antwerp Vlaamse Opera Ghent
sa 24/1/2009 20.00 th 23/4/2009 20.00
tu 27/1/2009 20.00* fr 24/4/2009 20.00
we 28/1/2009 20.00 sa 25/4/2009 20.00
th 29/1/2009 20.00
fr 30/1/2009 20.00* sa 26/4/2009 14.00
sa 31/1/2009 20.00 su 26/4/2009 15.00
su 25/1/2009 15.00* Tickets
sa 31/1/2009 14.00
su 1/2/2009 15.00
*with introduction
New Luxor, Rotterdam
fr 17/04/09 (20.00), sa 18/04/2009 (20.00), su 19/04/2009