"Swan Lake" is the benchmark repertoire of world ballet art. Where it is a classic, its versions are naturally innumerable. Before the Shanghai Ballet's classic version of "Swan Lake" is staged on January 28-29, 2022, I will take stock of this full of vitality and what are the shocking adaptations.
On February 20, 1877, Lao Chai's "Swan Lake" was premiered at the Bolshoi Theater and failed. In 1895, a year after Tchaikovsky's death, Swan Lake was re-choreographed by the talented Russian choreographers Petipa and Ivanov, who fully understood and used Tchaikovsky's music, innocent stories, fantastic swans, classic choreography, and beautiful melodies, making Swan Lake the most well-known of all classical ballets. Later, on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater, several iconic figures of Russian ballet, such as Agrippina Vaganova and Fidel Lopkhov, also made certain adaptations of the play, but these versions did not stay on Mariinsky's program list for too long.
Stanislavsky and Vladimir Bolmest, artistic director of the Nemirovich Danchenko Musical Theatre, version of Swan Lake is the signature repertoire of stanislavsky Ballet. It premiered on April 25, 1953. Although it apparently derives from the famous work of Petipa Ivanov (the second act includes all the dances of the Swan Girls choreographed by Lev Ivanov), it is completely original: all the dances and movements contribute to the end of the plot; thanks to the addition of the opening and closing remarks, the story is also clearer than usual. This version uses all of Tchaikovsky's soundtrack, including Serenade of the Prince, the waltzes and Polish dances in act I, the duets of Audre and Siegfried, and the Prince Variations in Act III, The Swan Farewell Dance, and the Storm, which are often omitted.
The version will also be staged at the Stanley Theatre in December. | Image source: https://stanmus.ru/
As ballet moved out of Eastern Europe, Swan Lake was no longer monopolized by several of Russia's top theaters. The legendary "defector" ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, after taking charge of the Paris Opera, released a more subversive version of "Swan Lake" in 1984 – in fact, everything existed only in the prince's mind, and there was no magic and redemption. In order to show the strength of the "Heavenly Tuan" level, the part of this version of the flock of geese is also extremely subtle.
The image comes from the Internet
Fast forward to the beginning of this century, and the Australian Ballet Graham Murphy's version of "Swan Lake", alluding to "court secrets", allows the protagonist to abandon the traditional tutu skirt and replace it with a high-society dress dress. In the face of the temptation of "black swan", is there really a stronger love between the "white swan" and the "white swan"?
In the modern dance drama "Swan Lake" (Lake), choreographed by the Monte Carlo Ballet and Majo, the plot adaptation is even more surprising to the traditional audience. In addition to the "black and white swans", another set of "triangular relationships" has been added, without the delicate lines of classical ballet, but with a sense of primitive fatalism.
I think I must have heard of this one in recent years. Some media say that Matthew Bourne's "sexual transformation" version of "Swan Lake" can be said to be one of the most influential ballets in the past 20 years, and this shocking subversive work is really controversial, especially the hazy same-sex love in it - in fact, the plot branch of the prince's psychoanalysis integrated into the plot was proposed in the Vagangova era.
So, there are so many dazzling and "various" "Swan Lake", why do you recommend that you watch this one first?
01
The most shocking "Swan Ocean"
Although the choreography of modern ballet seems easier for audiences to understand, the shock of classical ballet virtuosity will make you deeply ingrained in love with it. This is Money, which reported on the company's performance in Berlin, called it "Amazing grace."
Shanghai Ballet's classic version of Swan Lake was created and arranged by derek Deane, a world-renowned master of ballet choreography. In 2015, on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of the birth of the ballet "Swan Lake", the Shanghai Ballet performed a new rehearsal as a gift to classic art. In order to make a breakthrough, Derek Dean put forward the idea of building the "Circular Swan Lake" in Albert Hall, creating an unprecedented swan ocean in China for Shanghai.
Derek Dean's version of Swan Lake | Image source: ASH
This scale is not only the first time in China, but also the world's first "Swan Lake" with a luxurious goose lineup staged in a theater. On the stage of deepening depth, the swans move and change into simple or complex graceful formations, and each freeze frame is a shocking picture.
02
The most recognized "touring ace"
Shanghai Ballet's classic version of Swan Lake has been recognized by audiences around the world, and countless discerning critics have watched it. Since its premiere, it has toured more than 100 performance centers in Shanghai, Beijing, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Australia, the United States and other countries, as well as world-class performance centers such as the Lincoln Center for the Arts in New York. In 2017, the resident performance at the Royal Carré Theatre in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, reached 19 performances, breaking the 130-year-old Carré Theatre's three consecutive weeks of staging the same classical repertoire.
The exquisite delicacy of Haipai Ballet, the shocking and aesthetic visual experience, and the elegant atmosphere of "Swan Ocean" attract the attention and praise of media and audiences at home and abroad, and interpret the immortal brilliance of classical ballet.
03
The most exquisite "Haipai art"
Shanghai Ballet can be said to be the "main creative team" of this version of "Swan Lake", and has toured countless times with the troupe. Founded in 1979, Shanghai Ballet was formerly known as the crew of the large-scale ballet "White Haired Girl". As one of the important works to try the nationalization of ballet, "The White Haired Girl" laid the foundation for the establishment of the Shanghai Ballet, and also established the first-class position of the Shanghai Ballet in China. "The White-Haired Girl" has won the Classic Award of the Chinese Nation's Twentieth Century Dance Classics Competition and has been performed for a long time, and has been staged more than 2,000 times so far.
After forty years, Shanghai Ballet started from "The White-Haired Girl" to now has "Swan Lake", "Romeo and Juliet", "Sleeping Beauty", "La Traviata", "Gloria", "Fairy", "The Nutcracker", "Giselle", "Don Quixote" and other world classic ballets, "White Haired Girl", "Shining Red Star", "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai", "Fancy Years", "Marco Polo", "Jane Love", "Long Hate Song", "Hamlet", Shanghai Grand Theatre version of "Nutcracker" and other original dance dramas and "Qingfeng Dance Shadow" - The reserved repertoire of Ballet Poetry, Ode to Joy – Ballet Evening and The Charm of Dance – Modern Ballet Has formed the "Shanghai Art Style" of Shanghai Ballet' elegant and delicate and eclectic.
Finally, and most importantly, at a time when the development of the epidemic in the world is becoming more and more severe, watching a ballet performance on the spot has been jealous of countless dance fans!
No matter how exquisite the version, only the shock of the scene is incomparable, and the most tiptoe is the thrill, which is why you need to watch Swan Lake!
The first Suzhou Bay Opera and Dance Festival
Shanghai Ballet Classic Version of Swan Lake
【Show Time】
Friday, January 28, 2022 at 19:30
Saturday, January 29, 2022 at 19:30
【Fare Information】
680/580/480/380/280/180/120 yuan
【Early Bird Offer】
Before November 27, 2021
20% off for a single ticket (680/580/480/380 RMB ticket)
From 27 November 2021
280/180/120 yuan ticket stalls are on sale
【Duration】
Approximately 165 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission, subject to the actual performance
【Performance Location】
Suzhou Bay Grand Theater Opera Hall
【Tips】
All spectators will be admitted with a ticket
Children also need to buy tickets
【Ticketing Channel】
Identify the QR code to purchase tickets online
Precautions for epidemic prevention
1. The audience needs to purchase tickets in their real names and sit in the number, and wear masks throughout the performance.
2. Please prepare the "Su Kang Code" or other regional health codes for verification in advance, and the green code can be used to enter the show.
3. Spectators with fever (body temperature ≥ 37.3 °C), cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, diarrhea and other symptoms in the past 14 days, or spectators with a history of living in medium and high-risk areas within 14 days, will not be allowed to enter the show.
4. During the waiting period, please keep a safe distance of more than 1 meter from other spectators, and do not gather together or gather.
Editor-in-charge: Wang Hao