Swan Lake by St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre

Time: 2010/2/16-2010/2/19.
Venue: NCPA-Theatre
Price: 180/280/380/480/580/680

Of all the grand story ballets, "Swan Lake" is the best-known, most often produced, and even the most parodied. For many, ballet is nearly synonymous with "Swan Lake."

Swan Lake by St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre

One of the most popular ballets from the 19th century is Swan Lake. It is a classic fairytale, filled with princes, princesses, sorcerers, evil, magic spells, and true love. The basic storyline for Swan Lake is as follows:

Act 1

Set in medieval Germany, we find ourselves in a park in front of a castle. It is Prince Siegfried's coming-of-age, full of dances and revels. In the middle of the party, the Princess-Mother tells the prince he must select a bride in the near future. The Prince and his friends set off to go hunting in the woods in order to forget his princely responsibilities.

Act 2

Next we find we are on the banks of a lake. Swans swim across the lake, one of which wears a crown. The hunters enter with the Prince, who orders them to proceed with the hunt and leave him alone. He meets a beautiful woman, all in white - Odette, the Swan Queen. The Prince approaches her and calms her fears. He asks her who she is and why she is there. She tells him that the lake was formed by the tears her parents wept after the evil magician Von Rothbart kidnapped her. She and the other maidens were put under a spell by which they live as swans by day and humans by night. The only way for the spell to be broken is if a good man pledges his love for Odette. Siegfried is about to pledge his love to Odette when Von Rothbart appears, dressed as the owl he becomes to guard his captives. Odette prevents Siegfried from killing Von Rothbart, as he will only be killed through the sacrifice of human life, given for the love of Odette. The hunters mistake the Swan Maidens for birds and prepare to shoot them. Odette and Seigfried stop the hunt, then the Swan Maidens dance upon the shore. Siegfried and Odette realize their growing love for each other. At dawn the Queen and the Maidens revert to swans and swim away, over the lake.