Venue: National Centre for the Performing Arts - Opera House
Dates: Apr. 28, 2012-May 01, 2012
Price: VIP/800/700/600/500/300/240/180 RMB 
 
About
This work was first represented at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow on February 20, 1877. A new and successful staging of the ballet  was first performed on January 27, 1895 at the Mariinsky Theatre of St. Petersburg  with acts I and III choreographed by Marius Petipa and acts II and IV choreographed with the participation of Lev Ivanov.　

Alicia Alonso staged a new version in three acts and an epilogue which follows the third act without interruption.

In keeping with the esthetics of Romanticism, its plot is a guileless story which includes prodigious transformations, magic spells and monstrous curses, but one in which love appears as a human force triumphing over the most terrible powers. Swan Lake, one of the masterpieces in the history of theatrical dance, continues to exist as an exceptional example of the style and expressive modes of a whole epoch of dance. It offers a brilliant display of academic technique as well as integrating perfectly the personification of a woman/swan in the language of dance.

The Swan Lake will be launched as the opening performance of the 12th Meet in Beijing Arts Festival.

Presenter
Ballet Nacional de Cuba
The Ballet Nacional de Cuba is one of the most prestigious international dance companies in the world and has an important place in the world of contemporary Ibero-American culture. 

The artistry and technical excellence of its dancers and the inventiveness and variety of its choreographers' aesthetic vision have won the company one of the top places among companies on the international scene.

Alicia Alonso was the driving force behind the company's creation in 1948 and was its most important member. In 1950, the Alicia Alonso National Ballet School was established as an addendum to the professional company. From the outset the company's artistic line followed the romantic and classical tradition, but it also encouraged the work of choreographers who sought inspiration from national and contemporary trends.

Even in those early days, the Alicia Alonso Ballet staged works from Diaghilev's Russian Ballets, such as Petrushka or L’Après midi d’un faune, and ballets by Cuban choreographers, such as Fiesta negra (Black Party), Sóngoro cosongo, Concerto and Sombras (Shadows) as well as full-length versions of such classics as Giselle, Swan Lake or Coppélia.

Synopsis
Prince Siegfried comes to the depths of the forest alone, and strays into a moonlit mysterious lake. Then a swan swims across the lake. When Siegfried is ready to shoot an arrow, the swan suddenly turns into a beautiful girl. She tells her misfortune to Siegfried that she used to be a princess Odette. A spell makes her and her fellows become swans during the day and show their appearance of girls at night. Only true love can break the spell. Siegfried immediately decides to announce that Odette will be the bride in dance party for Siegfried's wife selection. The devil orders his daughter Black Swan disguised as Odette to attend the dance party. However, when Siegfried finds him deceived, he rushes to the Swan Lake...