Monday, March 17, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
With music by Tchaikovsky and choreography by Maruis Petipa and Lev Ivanov, "Swan Lake" will play March 27-30 at the Judy Bayley Theater.
NDT produced its first full-length production of "Swan Lake" in 1993. The 1997 version will be staged by guest repetiteur Denise Schultze and NDT associate artistic director Louis Godfrey.
Called "... the greatest romantic classic of all time ..." by George Balanchine, "Swan Lake" was first performed in Moscow in 1877. Like many of Tchaikovsky's greatest works, "Swan Lake" opened to poor reviews. The piece had been poorly choreographed and some of his music was deleted to accommodate the shortcomings of the principal ballerina.
It wasn't until two years after his death in 1895 that Petipa and Ivanov created the definitive choreography to the complete score of "Swan Lake" that is used by most ballet companies today.
"Swan Lake" is the ultimate love story of love found, love betrayed and love reunited in tragedy. The beautiful Odette is transformed into a Swan Queen, all in white, by the evil sorcerer Von Rothbart. She may only be seen as a mortal woman between the hours of midnight and dawn. The handsome prince Siegfried sees her and falls in love with her. When she tells him of the spell she lives under, he promises to break it by marrying her and being faithful forever. He will announce their engagement at a court ball the following evening.
The evening of the ball arrives, and Von Rothbart enters disguised as a nobleman escorting his evil daughter Odile, all in black, who has been transformed to look exactly like Odette. The prince, thinking Odile is Odette, pledges his troth to her and, in doing so, breaks his promise to the Swan Queen.
Betrayed, Odette throws herself into a lake of tears and drowns. Siegfried, unable to live without his love, follows her to a watery death. Their double sacrifice breaks the sorcerer's spell and they are united in eternity.
The roles of Odette and Odile are traditional litmus tests for a ballerina. Most see performing the dual roles of the black and white swans as a necessary step in their careers to be considered world-class dancers.
In the NDT production, Clarice Geissel will perform both the black and white swan for four performances, with Natalia Chapurskaya as the white swan and a guest artist dancing the black swan for two performances. The role of Prince Siegfried will be alternated between Richard Bradley and Pavel Romaniouk. John Surdick will portray the evil sorcerer Von Rothbart.
"Swan Lake" will play for six performances March 27-30 at the Judy Bayley Theater on the UNLV campus. Tickets are $18, $29 and $40 with discounts for children, seniors, groups and Saturday matinees at the UNLV box office, 895-3801, and all Dillard's stores.
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