Exquisite dancing, enchanting music, and a timeless tale of love and loss.

The Story
Swan Lake is a timeless story of love, betrayal, and sacrifice. On a hunting trip, Prince Siegfried discovers Odette, a woman who was captured and transformed into a white swan. Struck by her beauty, he vows eternal love, unaware that her captor Von Rothbart has been watching them. Von Rothbart has cast a spell on Odette that can only be broken by her one true love. To prevent the couple from breaking the spell, he tricks Prince Siegfried into declaring his love for his daughter Odile. Believing that Odette has come to him in masquerade, the prince happily selects Odile as his bride and unwillingly breaks his vow to Odette, dooming her to remain a swan forever. In the final act, a heartbroken Odette and regretful Siegfried reunite and destroy the evil sorcerer, but the spell cannot be undone.

The Dancing
Renowned as a masterpiece, Swan Lake enthralls audiences with its coveted principal roles and iconic corps de ballet.The second act, originally choreographed by Lev Ivanov, is historically considered the finest piece of classical choreography for the corps de ballet. Revel in the technical precision and emotional tonality of dozens of dancers, brilliantly transformed by Robert Perdziola’s incomparable scenery and costume design.

“Swan Lake is one of the world’s most iconic and beloved classical ballets. This production showcases the depth of talent within our Company, from the principal roles to the precision of the iconic corps de ballet scenes. The second act is one of the greatest pieces of corps de ballet choreography. It’s absolutely brilliant. One huge spectacle.”
Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen

The Music
Audiences will fall in love all over again with P.I. Tchaikovsky’s masterful score. Boston Ballet’s Music Director Mischa Santora has elevated the Boston Ballet Orchestra, the second largest musical organization in New England, to new heights.

“Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen and company’s adaption of Tchaikovsky’s pièce de résistance dazzles audiences with stunning audiovisuals, from the always-impressive athleticism of the dancers, to the instantly recognizable music, to the gorgeous sets and costumes…”
Yiqing Shao, Boston Magazine

The History
The original production premiered in 1877 with choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. Nissinen added a prologue that depicts the abduction of Odette and the beginning of Von Rothbart’s curse transforming her into a swan. Nissinen collaborated with award-winning designer Robert Perdziola to create the sets and costumes inspired by the late Gothic and early Renaissance period.

“[Nissinen’s] Swan Lake is one of the most beloved ballets in the classical canon, filled with romance, sorcery, transformation, and sacrifice, not to mention lush, virtuosic choreography for corps and principals alike.”
Karen Campbell, The Boston Globe

Please Note: The music in some ballets may be loud depending on where you are sitting and your own comfort level. Please plan accordingly.

Although Swan Lake is presented in many different versions, most ballet companies base their stagings both choreographically and musically on the 1895 revival of Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, first staged for the Imperial Ballet on 15 January 1895, at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. For this revival, Tchaikovsky's score was revised by the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatre's chief conductor and composer Riccardo Drigo.

During the late 1880s and early 1890s, Petipa and Vsevolozhsky discussed with Tchaikovsky the possibility of reviving Swan Lake. However, Tchaikovsky died on 6 November 1893, just when plans to revive Swan Lake were beginning to come to fruition. It remains uncertain whether Tchaikovsky was prepared to revise the music for this revival. Whatever the case, as a result of Tchaikovsky's death, Drigo was forced to revise the score himself, after receiving approval from Tchaikovsky's younger brother, Modest. There are major differences between Drigo's and Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake score. Today, it is Riccardo Drigo's revision of Tchaikovsky's score, and not Tchaikovsky's original score of 1877, that most ballet companies use.

In February 1894, two memorial concerts planned by Vsevolozhsky were given in honor of Tchaikovsky. The production included the second act of Swan Lake, choreographed by Lev Ivanov, Second Balletmaster to the Imperial Ballet. Ivanov's choreography for the memorial concert was unanimously hailed as wonderful.

The revival of Swan Lake was planned for Pierina Legnani's benefit performance in the 1894–1895 season. The death of Tsar Alexander III on 1 November 1894 and the ensuing period of official mourning brought all ballet performances and rehearsals to a close for some time, and as a result all efforts could be concentrated on the pre-production of the full revival of Swan Lake. Ivanov and Petipa collaborated on the production, with Ivanov retaining his dances for the second act while choreographing the fourth, with Petipa staging the first and third acts.

Modest Tchaikovsky was called upon to make changes to the ballet's libretto, including the character of Odette changing from a fairy swan-maiden into a cursed mortal woman, the ballet's villain changing from Odette's stepmother to the magician von Rothbart, and the ballet's finale: instead of the lovers simply drowning at the hand of Odette's stepmother as in the original 1877 scenario, Odette commits suicide by drowning herself, with Prince Siegfried choosing to die as well, rather than live without her, and soon the lovers' spirits are reunited in an apotheosis. Aside from the revision of the libretto the ballet was changed from four acts to three—with act 2 becoming act 1, scene 2.

All was ready by the beginning of 1895 and the ballet had its première on Friday, 27 January. Pierina Legnani danced Odette/Odile, with Pavel Gerdt as Prince Siegfried, Alexei Bulgakov as Rothbart, and Alexander Oblakov as Benno. Most of the reviews in the St. Petersburg newspapers were positive.