A ballet to enchant us once more

Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake will be flying into our lives once more on Tuesday, in the form of a screening of the performance at the Royal Ballet.

The screening, which will be held at the Pantheon Theatre in Nicosia, will showcase a new production with additional choreography by artist in residence Liam Scarlett, who will bring fresh eyes to the staging of this classic ballet in collaboration with his long-term designer John Macfarlane.

The ballet’s story is based on a German fairytale and begins with Prince Siegfried, who goes hunting. While out and about, he happens upon a flock of swans and one of them turns into a beautiful woman named Odette – who is under a magic spell to be a swan by day and a young woman at night.

The spell can only be broken by a man who will make a promise to love her for all time. The prince is more than willing to make that promise, but he is tricked by the evil sorcerer Rothbart into seducing his daughter Deile, the black swan, who looks exactly like Odette.

Swan Lake was Tchaikovsky’s first ballet score. Given its status today as arguably the best-loved and most admired of all classical ballets, it is perhaps surprising that at its premiere in 1877 Swan Lake was poorly received. It is only thanks to the 1895 production by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov that it has become such a part of wider popular culture.

Swan Lake
Screening of the ballet as performed at the Royal Ballet. July 11. Pantheon Theatre, 29 Diagorou Street, Nicosia. 8pm. €10. Tel: 22-675787

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