Before going to watch any ballet it is vital to familiarise yourself with the synopsis and characters or else you can find yourself quite lost when watching and that can ruined the magic and atmosphere of the performance. in our briefing we were given a synopsis of Swan Lake to read before the performance. I will document it separately on here as it is always worth having as a reference.
Swan Lake is for many people the ultimate test of a Ballerina's skill, strength and stamina; with 4 acts and over 3 hours of performing it is a huge endurance test. We discovered that the 32 Fouettes which occur at the end of Odile solo weren't actually part of the original choreography but were introduced by ballerina Pierina Legnani in the 1895 version by Mariinsky Ballet. I look forward to seeing them performed tonight.
History;
Composed around 1875/76 by Pyotr Tchaikovsky it initially did not succeed as a performance; many considered the music to be too complicated and syncopated for the dancers to move to. It was revised and revived in 1895 by the Imperial Ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg and it was here where the Ballet first saw success! There are several suggestions and theories as to the origins of the story, some have said that it was a story Tchaikovsky made for his nieces and nephews. It is most likely however influenced by the many many myths and legends over the years that have told stories of swan maidens, particularly Nordic and Greek mythology. Since its revival it has seen many many reincarnation, we will be watching the Moscow City Ballet's version which is based on the choreography by Marius Pepita.
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