Swan Lake
Student Guide
SWAN LAKE
Full-length Ballet in Four Acts
Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikowski
Choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov
Premiere: March 4, 1877 Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow
ACT I
The Garden of Prince Siegfried's Castle
ACT II
A Lakeside
--Intermission--
ACT III
The Great Hall of Siegfried’s Castle
ACT IV
The Lakeside
______________________________________________________________________________
PROGRAM NOTES
ACT I
The Garden of Prince Siegfried's Castle
Prince Siegfried has come of age and entered upon a new world of affairs of war and the burdens
of manhood. It is the day for leaving behind the whims and caprice of youth. A happy day for the
Prince, though touched by anxiety. The kindly jester and tutor who have been the Prince's loving
companions since his childhood are the first to congratulate him. He greets his companions and
joyfully accepts the congratulations of all the residents of the Castle.
The Prince's subjects come from far and wide to take part in the festivities. They confer upon
him the sword and scepter of authority and swear allegiance to their new ruler. His mother, the
Queen Mother of the Realm, presents him with an arbalest as a gift and reminds him that the
time has come to choose a bride and that he must make the fateful decision at tomorrow’s ball.
He is eager to contemplate this life change in silence. The festivities continue, but the Prince is
overcome by a desire to be alone, far from his guests. As he begins to search the contents of his
heart he notices a flight of white swans heading toward the nearby lake. He is inspired and
follows them there, disappearing into the night.
ACT II
A Lakeside
The voyage to the lake takes the Prince
into the depths of the forest. He
approaches the Swans
quietly and as he nears he sees
something quite out of the ordinary.
The Swans have stepped
ashore and assumed human form!
Siegfried lowers the crossbow,
astonished with their striking
beauty. He gathers his courage and
reveals himself. Odette, the swan’s Queen tells him of their
terrible curse. They are all at the mercy of the wicked sorcerer Rotbart and only by finding true
love can the evil spell be lifted. Siegfried, overcome with love at first sight, swears to her an
everlasting love. As the sun beings to dawn, Odette warns him that if he breaks his oath, nothing
will be able to help them. The Prince is completely overcome by the incomparable and exquisite
delicacy of Odette, and swears that he will return and free her from the evil spell. As the sunlight
touches them, the women transform back into Swans, cloaked in silence.
--Intermission-ACT III
The Great Hall of Prince Siegfried's Castle
The castle resounds to the clamor of festivities. Renowned Princesses from
Hungary, Russia, Spain, Italy and Poland are presented to the Prince. He must
choose one of them as his bride, in order to strengthen his authority and
consolidate his power. However, in none of these royal heiresses does he
find a maiden comparable to Odette, to whom he has given his heart. He
rejects them all.
With an overwhelming blare of trumpets, a couple of new guests are
announced. The evil sorcerer, Rotbart, enters in the guise of a noble knight,
and following close behind is his daughter, Odylle, who looks remarkably like
Odette. The similarity is so close, in fact, that Siegfried believes, if only for a
split second, that it is Odette standing there before him. Odylle seizes the
brief moment of illusion as an opportunity and will not allow him to find his
senses.
She becomes a bewitching temptress, luring him, hypnotizing him, and
tricking him into confessing his undying love to her! In this hypnotic stupor,
he proclaims that Odylle is to be his bride. Rotbard has triumphed! Siegfried has broken his oath to Odette,
betraying her by professing love to another, thereby dooming Odette and the others to an eternity under
Rotbart’s evil power. Suddenly a vision of the Swan Lake appears before Siegfried’s eyes, snapping him back into
reality. He realizes the terrible mistake he has made. In despair he leaves the palace and hurries to Odette at the
Lake.
ACT IV
The Lakeside Night falls again on the Lake. The swan maidens are anxious, for if the Prince does not fulfill his
vow to set them free, they will be doomed to everlasting captivity. The sorcerer raises a raging storm to conceal
the Swan Lake behind a screen of dark clouds, But the Prince rushes headlong through the storm to Odette. The
sorcerer attempts to conceal her from him, but no power can stop the young man whose heart is so full of love.
The Prince overcomes all obstacles, and the spell cast by the evil sorcerer is dashed forever on the rock of true
love.
HISTORY OF SWAN LAKE:
THE STORY
The story of Swan Lake includes ideas and themes
found in several age-old tales and myths. The idea of
bird-women and the theme of our search for enduring
love are two such concepts to look at. Swans in Greek
mythology were connected to wisdom and creativity
and were associated with the Nine Muses. The
beautiful voice of the half-bird half-woman Siren in
Greek mythology could woo men off their course.
Hindu’s swan-maiden goddess Saraswati, whose name
means “one who flows,” is linked to purity, beauty, and
the arts and is dressed in pure white. And closer to
home, in Native American culture, the famous
Sacagawea’s name means Bird-Maiden.
At the time of Swan Lake people would have known of the Tales of the Thousand and One Nights, in which there is an
account of Hasan of Basra, who visits the place of the bird-maidens. When they take off their feather garments, they
become beautiful women. They might also have known the Russian story by Alexandre Pushkin, Tzar Sultan, which is the
story of a prince who saves the life of a wounded swan who later reappears as a woman to marry him, and as well the
German folktale by Hans Christian Andersen called The Wild Swans.
Peter
Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the composer of the music for Swan Lake, was
likely
influenced by Wagner’s opera Lohengrin, the story of a heroic Swan
Prince, a man with a mysterious past who arrives on a magical swanboat.
Because threads of these historical tales touch on universal
experiences of longing for true love and the consequences of our
actions, Swan Lake strikes a note of familiarity in the viewer even
though it is a fantasy ballet.People have long marked their lives in
seven
year increments—by age seven one’s permanent teeth are in and
toddler-hood is over, by fourteen adolescence is in full swing, and the
21st
birthday is seen as a rite of passage to adulthood. The SPS audience
will
see Act III of Swan Lake. The act opens with a royal party comprised of
guests
from other lands gathered to celebrate an important event—a coming
of age
party honoring Prince Siegfried and the moment he will choose his
bride.
Lesson Plans:
Ask students how 21st birthdays are celebrated in the 21st
century in America or around the world? For Prince
Siegfried it signified the end of his carefree days as a
bachelor. Being 21 meant that he would need to choose a
girl to marry whether he loved her or not and take on the
responsibilities of an adult man. Ask how it might feel to be
told by parents that this was what you must do? Students
might research other cultures’ marriage traditions.
Celebrations of all types have long included everyday people
dancing together as well as professional entertainers
performing dances. Recently the United States held an
Inaugural Ball in honor of President Barak Obama. People
from all over the world were invited, from dignitaries to high
school marching bands. At one point President Obama and
First Lady Michelle Obama danced together on stage.
Why do we dance together at celebrations? Why do performers
dance for us at celebrations?
In Swan Lake Act III the stage lighting makes a dramatic shift
when Von Rothbart in his dark flowing cape and his daughter
Odile dressed as the Black Swan enter.
Ask students to watch for their entrance. Suggest that after the performance you will discuss what happened and how they
felt at that moment.
SWAN LAKE
is a classical ballet that combines real world situations with fantasy. In its entirety it
has four acts and is three hours long. Acts I and III occur in the royal court of a Queen and her son Prince
Siegfried, Acts II and IV occur near a lake where maidens are trapped in an evil sorcerer’s spell and must
live as swans by day and women at night.
SWAN LAKE: THE MUSIC
The story of Swan Lake appealed to Tchaikovsky’s romantic nature. He had previously composed a little
ballet for his niece and nephew in 1871 called The Lake of the Swans. He brought the musical theme, or
leitmotif, that represents the Swan Queen from that earlier family entertainment into his composition for
Swan Lake.
A leitmotif (pronounced light-mow-teef) is a musical theme that recurs to evoke a particular feeling related
to a character or situation or to signal that the character is present. A leitmotif is often the melody that you
hum in your head when you leave the performance.
Listen to a recording of Swan Lake by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Ask students if the music feels
“danceable.” See if they can identify any recurring melodies. Ask if they prefer one section more than
another.
Folk dances from countries around the world consist of locomotor movements (steps that travel from one
place to another) and non-locomotor movements done in place. Usually there is a repeatable pattern of
moves that matches the beat of the music. Sometimes the dances are done in certain formations, like a
circle or a square.
The Kennedy Center has a wonderful website, ArtsEdge, that provides resources and lesson plans for
teachers. Here are links to two approaches to folk dances, one for early elementary and the other for
Grades 5-8.
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators/how-to/tipsheets/early-elementary-social-dance.aspx
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators/standards/national/arts-standards/5-8/dance/dance-5.aspx
Former Principal Dancer Anne Mueller and former Soloist Steven Houser. Photo by Ben Kerns.
Here is a listing of dance segments from the
Stage Manager’s cue notes outlining the events of Act III
MARCH
PAS DE TROIS
PRINCESSES
VON ROTHBART & ODILE ENTER
SPANISH
NEOPOLITAN
RUSSIAN
CZARDAS (HUNGARIAN)
BLACK SWAN PAS DE DEUX
DECEPTION IS DISCOVERED
Act III includes several dances inspired by traditional folk dances that hail from European countries—
Spain, Italy, Russia, and Hungary. Each time a choreographer embarks on creating Swan Lake, they
must decide whether to follow a tradition or create something new.
View and compare two youtube videos of the Russian dance:
one a solo, the other a pas de deux
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJTNaZKbaYs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1-cC7kW7iA
View American Ballet Theatre’s Czardas (Hungarian) folk dance and compare to Polish folk dance by
students in San Diego
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5B641myoMQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vExHWiJ8OoQ
Folk dances keep evolving. Check out the amazing skills in Romafest Gypsy Dance Theater’s, Rhythm
Game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2dMk-vMWS8
Check out this link to OBT’s blog and look at videos about Swan Lake.
http://oregonballettheatre.wordpress.com/2013/01/23/
RUSSIAN NATIONAL BALLET THEATRE
Artistic Director: Elena Radchenko
The Russian National Ballet Theatre was founded in Moscow during the transitional period of
Perestroika in the late 1980s, when many of the great dancers and choreographers of the Soviet Union's
ballet institutions were exercising their new-found creative freedom by starting new, vibrant companies
dedicated not only to the timeless tradition of classical Russian Ballet but to invigorate this tradition as
the Russians began to accept new developments in the dance from around the world.
The company, then titled the Soviet National Ballet, was founded by and incorporated graduates from
the great Russian choreographic schools of Moscow, St. Petersburg and Perm. The principal dancers of
the company came from the upper ranks of the great ballet companies and academies of Russia, and the
companies of Riga, Kiev and even Warsaw. Today, the Russian National Ballet Theatre is its own
institution, with over 50 dancers of singular instruction and vast experience, many of whom have been
with the company since its inception. In addition to their upcoming tour, beginning in January 2011 the
company will embark upon a 4-month coast-to-coast tour of the United States.
In 1994, the legendary Bolshoi principal dancer Elena Radchenko was selected by Presidential decree to
assume the first permanent artistic directorship of the company. Ms. Radchenko is the founder of the
Russian National Ballet Theatre, and she has focused the Company on upholding the grand national
tradition of the major Russian ballet works and developing new talents throughout Russia, with a
repertory of virtually all of the great full works of Petipa: Don Quixote, La Bayadere, The Sleeping
Beauty, Swan Lake, Raymonda, Paquita, Coppelia and La Sylphide, as well as productions of, among
others, The Nutcracker, Sylvia, and La Fille Mal Gardee.
Pre-performance Activities:
Swan Lake: The Game Show
After sharing the history and story of Swan Lake with your students, ask questions in a
game show style format. This can be a fun way to check for understanding and will help
prepare students for what they will experience at the theater.
Tip: Little prizes can be fun to add to this activity. Here are 8 questions to start with. You
may come up with your own or have students participate in creating the questions.
Questions
1. Who is the choreographer of the version of Swan Lake you will see at Cal
Performances?
2. Who is the composer of the score for Swan Lake?
3. What vow did Siegfried break with Odette?
4. Who originally choreographed Swan Lake?
6. What was the name of the ballet company you saw perform in Zellerbach Hall?
7. Who is the artistic director of the ballet company?
8. What helped you understand the story even though there were no words?
Discussion of Common Themes
Many of the stories that ballets are based on have similiar themes. For example good
and evil, or love and betrayal. Select other fairytales to read outloud to your students.
Afterwards, have students brainstorm common themes. Ask students to see whether
they
recognize any of the same themes when they see the performance of Swan Lake.
Classic Romantic Ballets: Characteristics to look for:
• Supernatural elements like fairies, magicians and mythical creatures
• Stories of tragic love
• Tutus for women (either short or mid length)
• Pantomine used to communicate emotion or action
Post Performance Activities
Performance Summary
Consider the following questions when writing your summary of the performance:
Costumes:
What colors were used for the dancers’ costumes? How did the costumes add to the
overallperformance?
Dances and Movement:
Did the men and women move differently? Pick one of the dances you enjoyed most
and explain what the dance was about and describe how the dancers moved.
Performance Poster
Now that you have seen Swan Lake, your assignment is to make a poster advertising
the performance. Consider the following while designing your poster:
What words will you choose to put on the poster that will inform the public about this
group?
What graphics will you use? How does color communicate feeling or set a tone?
What information do you need to include? Think about time, location, date etc. How will
youemphasize this information.
Works Cited
Pre and Post Show questions:
Gruener, K. (n.d.). Swan Lake Study Guide . . Retrieved July 10, 2014, from
http://www.obt.org/outreach_links/SPS_SwanLake_StudyGuide.pdf