Classic twist in Swan Lake
A STAR of the world famous Bolshoi ballet and a Russian prima ballerina will take the starring roles in what promises to be a spectacular production by Cork City Ballet of the Tchaikovsky’s classic in the Opera House tonight (Thursday).
While Swan Lake is regarded as a tragedy, Cork City ballet’s artistic director Alan Foley is promising a bit of a twist in the telling of the drama.
In simple terms, Swan Lake is about a prince named Siegfried. He falls in love with the Swan princess, Odette. She is a swan by day, but a young woman at night. She is under a magic spell that can only be broken by a man who will make a promise to love her for all time.
“Unlike the unalloyed tragedy most people cherish, this version ends with a fairy-tale twist,” said Alan.
“Yuri Demakov and I have reproduced the original Petipa/Ivanov choreography where the Prince destroys the evil sorcerer Rothbart, and is joyfully reunited with the Swan Queen”.
Andrei Bolotin of the Bolshoi Ballet and prima ballerina Ekaterina Bortakova won’t be the only Russian influence on the production.
The opulent costumes from directly from St Petersburg’s Marinsky Ballet while the alluring sets, especially the opening scene’s gold tinged, tree framed park in the shadow of a great castle and lake will conjure up a storybook scene from beyond the Urals.
All the well-loved elements are still in place including the “white acts”,with the famous cygnets’dance for four girls; the exquisite white swan pas de deux;and the Act 3 climactic Black Swan pas de deux complete with thirty two fouettés, all wrapped up in Tchaikovsky’s glorious score.
Swan Lake opens at the Cork Opera House tonight, Thursday, November 7, at 8pm and runs until Saturday, with a matinee performance that day also, at 2.30pm.