Swan Lake (Russian. Лебединое озеро, French. Le Lac des Cygnes, and. Swan Lake, Ger. Der Schwanensee, incl. Il lago dei cigni) -balet classic in four acts.
Libretto by: Vladimir Biegiczew and Vasily Gelcer
Music: Pyotr Tchaikovsky
choreography by: Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov
Art Direction: Ivan Andreyev, Mikhail Boczarow and Heinrich Levgot
The world premiere of Swan Lake took place at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow March 4, 1877.
Characters:
Odetta - girl enchanted the queen (or princess) swans
Prince Siegfried
Princess, mother of Siegfried
Benno - a friend of Prince Siegfried
Rothbart - the sorcerer
Odile - Rothbart's daughter
Wolfgang - guardian of Prince Siegfried-court jester ,friends of the prince, the girls enchanted swans, guests at the royal court, six young girls, rural youth.
Act I
Court library. Prince along with peers from military school and a friend of Benn waiting for the arrival of her mother. On the occasion of majority son reigning duchess she hands him the ancestral medallion. Siegfried also announces that the next day at the ball should choose a future wife from among the invited princesses. Siegfried agrees in a hurry, because friends and the surrounding villagers prepare for him a merry fun in the manor park. Everyone is dancing, there is a carefree atmosphere. Also, a general, a teacher prince and other cadets, is the general mood of forgetting that the princess ordered him to take care of his son. Along with the deepening dusk Evil Spirit appears. It lures the Duke to the lake, where it takes the form of a night bird - eagle owl. Here will be the fate of Siegfried.
Act II
On the banks of Lake prince meets a girl-swan and falls in love with her at first sight. It enchanted Odette into a swan by a sorcerer. If someone vow her true love, the devastating spells lose their power and both she and the accompanying girls-swans come back always to the human form. Captivated by the beauty of Odette, the Prince swears her eternal love.
Act III
It takes ball given by the Duchess-mother. Arrive invited guests, among them Princess: Hungarian, Neapolitan, Spanish, Russian and Polish. Finally, late Siegfried appears. It is still impressed by the meeting with Princess Odette and do not make much of an impression on him. Suddenly the fanfares are heard announcing the arrival of unexpected guests. This sorcerer Rothbart with his daughter Odile, confusingly similar to Odette. Under the influence of Siegfried swears love spells Odylia's thus dooming Odette to eternal suffering. When he realizes the cruel irony of fate, full unchanging love for Odette, runs to the lake.
Act IV
At night on the shores of the lake. Evil Spirit in the form of an owl brags about his victory over the good. Girls-swans are waiting for Odette, which appears devastated prepared for the worst. Evil Spirit knows that girls derive strength from their human form. So he is trying to gather them together to once again turn into birds. At this point, Siegfried rushes, and to his horror, finds Odette half alive. Words of love and repentance restores her to life. All the forces trying both to resist the evil fate. Odette feels that only death can combine them. He throws the rocks, and the prince follows her. Angered by the death of Odette and Siegfried girls-swans drown their persecutor and rise up to the sky trace of Odette and Siegfried. The night, however, is governed by its own laws and reappeared Evil Spirit hungry for new victims.
Here I'm also pasting the Matthew Bourne's version about Swan Lake:
Thrilling, audacious and totally original, Matthew Bourne's legendary production transforms one of ballet's best -loved stories into a stylish, witty, poignant, contemporary tale with extravagant, award-winning designs by Lez Brotherston.
Perhaps best-known for replacing the traditional female corps de ballet with a menacing male ensemble, Matthew Bourne blends dance, style, humour, spectacle, character comedy and mime to create a provocative and powerful Swan Lake for our times.
Since its 9th November 1995 world premiere at Sadler’s Wells, Matthew Bourne’s breathtaking and sexy version of Swan Lake has become the longest running ballet in the London’s West End and on Broadway. It has enjoyed four successful tours in the UK and continues to thrill audiences throughout the world.
Originally written by Tchaikovsky in the late 19th century, SWAN LAKE was staged at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre in 1877, but it wasn’t until 18 years later - and after the death of its composer - that it was finally staged in St Petersburg, and became a universal classic.
This new, witty and surprising production has been designed to speak to a modern audience, to excite them, to move them.
Matthew Bourne’s SWAN LAKE has collected over thirty international theatre awards including three Tonys for the Broadway production and has been widely acclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic as a landmark production on the international stage.
As the director and choreographer for SWAN LAKE Matthew Bourne is the only British director to have won the Tony Award for Best Director and Best Choreographer of a Musical in the same year (1999).
For Matthew, SWAN LAKE had a particular appeal: "I could see an opportunity to create a human story, with the potential for great dramatic power and range, indulge my satirical and humorous leanings as well as create whole suites of abstract movement to some of the best dance music ever written. Irresistible!"
The most talked about innovation in this production is the casting of a male dancer in the coveted role of Odette/Odile known as "the Swan". "The idea of a male swan makes complete sense to me" says Matthew, "the strength, the beauty, the enormous wingspan of these creatures suggests to me the musculature of a male dancer more readily than a ballerina in her white tutu."
SWAN LAKE has gone through many different interpretations since its creation by Tchaikovsky. Matthew Bourne’s production retains two of the essentials that make SWAN LAKE so universally loved - Tchaikovsky’s great score and the story of our constant yearning for an unattainable ideal.
*Information took from : www.wikipedia.com , www.swanlaketour.com
My comments:
Our exercise was to watch the theatre show and say what is story about and what we think about it dance. Also we had to find out the Matthew Bourne version of Swan Lake and describe the differences between his version and original. In my opinion this story is really interesting and I really enjoy watching the video. Also I like dance. I like the whole choreography which was telling all story without speaking . The dance and music was really magical for me .
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