Amber Arts
Swan Lake
Russian: Лебединое озеро, Lebedinoye ozero, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, was composed in 1875–1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer’s curse. 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. Great Russian Ballet bases its 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 most notable staging of the Petipa/Ivanov Swan Lake for the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, in 1901 was by Adelaide Giuri as Odette and Mikhail Mordkin as Prince. Great Russian Ballet principal dancers’ brilliant technique, fabulous execution and endless emotional passion will spell-cast every ballet amateur!
