The Russian National Ballet Theatre of Moscow: Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake

Overview

From the moment the curtain rises to audible gasps of delight until the final ovation, this corps de ballet of beauty and style led by gifted principals has their audience spellbound. The music of Tchaikovsky, white swans, beautiful costumes and superb choreography will thrill you.

There ARE tickets available for this performance!  Please contact the Hanover Theatre directly to purchase tickets.  Call their box office at 877-571-7469 or visit the Hanover Theatre web site at www.hanovertheatre.org for on-line purchase.

Program

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, although 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 sceptre of authority and swear allegiance to their new ruler. Henceforth, Prince Siegfried holds their lives and properties in his hands and is also responsible for increasing their wealth and adding to their glory. Something is troubling the Prince. However, he hastens to his mother, the Princess Mother of the Realm, kneels before her and begs for her advice and assistance. The festivities continue, but the Prince is overcome by a desire to be alone, far from his guests.

ACT II
A Lakeside

A wild lakeside, completely deserted. This is where the evil sorcerer conceals the maidens he has changed into swans. The sorcerer and his evil spell can be destroyed only if a young man falls truly and faithfully in love with the most beautiful of the swan maidens, Odette. But how can this happen, with the evil sorcerer ever alert and watchful over his captives?

Suddenly the Prince appears at the lakeside. His gaze alights on Odette and he is transfixed, dazzled by her beauty, and overcome by the aura of evil in which she is entrapped. The sorcerer tries to keep the swan maidens away from the prince to prevent an encounter between him and Odette. But Siegfried follows the beautiful swan maiden. Who is she? The swan maidens are cloaked in silence, how can they be saved? How can he penetrate the secret that surrounds them and rescue them from their captivity? The Prince is completely overcome by the incomparable and exquisite delicacy of Odette, the Prince swears that he will return and free her from the evil spell.

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 lost his heart. He rejects them all.

The evil sorcerer appears with a Princess remarkably like the Prince's beloved. He bewitches the Prince into believing that this domineering and cunning maiden is in fact the Queen of the Swans. Even her name, Odile, sounds like Odette to the Prince's ears. He chooses her as his bride and at the same time he sees a vision of Odette and he understands that the evil sorcerer and his daughter Odile have tricked him and in despair he leaves the palace.

ACT IV
The Lakeside

Night falls again on the Swan 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.

 

About the Artists

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,... more 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 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.

The Russian National Ballet Theatre, Directed by Elena Radchenko, is a cut above many of its rivals. The "Swan Lake" it danced at Montgomery College's Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts Center on Tuesday night was the real thing."
- Lovely "Swan Lake" by Alexandera Tomalonis- Washington Post