The George Balanchine Foundation
Balanchine Catalogue
Balanchine Catalogue
285. Swan Lake 1951
  • Music
Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky (excerpts from Swan Lake, Op. 20, 1875-76)
  • Choreography
George Balanchine after Lev Ivanov
  • Production
Scenery and costumes by Cecil Beaton. Scenery executed by Triangle Studios and Nolan Brothers; costumes executed by Karinska. Lighting by Jean Rosenthal
  • Premiere
November 20, 1951, New York City Ballet, City Center of Music and Drama, New York. Conductor: Leon Barzin
  • Cast
Odette, Queen of the Swans, Maria Tallchief; Prince Siegfried, André Eglevsky; Benno, the Prince’s Friend, Frank Hobi; PAS DE TROIS: Patricia Wilde, 2 women; PAS DE NEUF: Yvonne Mounsey, 8 women; Von Rothbart, a Sorcerer, Edward Bigelow; Swans, 24 women; Hunters, 8 men
Performance Type
Ballet
See Also
  • 75. Swan Lake,
    191. I Was an Adventuress,
    262. Don Quixote and Swan Lake (Black Swan) Pas de Deux,
    331. Pas de Deux (Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux),
    367. Le Lac des Cygnes
View Listings
Video Archives Recording
George Balanchine Foundation Interpreters Archive (White Swan pas de deux), 1997, (Solo) 2017
Note
Balanchine’s version of Swan Lake was based on Act II of the original four-act production, reproducing Ivanov’s WHITE SWAN ADAGIO (the pas de deux), the Swan Queen’s solo and coda entrance, and the DANCE OF THE FOUR CYGNETS (the pas de quatre); the entrance of the Swans derives from traditional versions. However, Balanchine removed all mime, greatly enlarged the role of the corps de ballet, and choreographed a new finale to music from Act IV. He subsequently made many more changes.
Additional Productions
Revisions
New Productions by Balanchine Companies
1964, New York City Ballet: New scenery, costumes, and lighting by Rouben Ter- Arutunian for the New York State Theater

1954   San Francisco Ballet
1958   Eglevsky Ballet Company
1960’s   Geneva Ballet (Grand Theatre de Geneve [Ballet])
1961   Teatro alla Scala (Milan)
1965   Ballet of Los Angeles
1979   Los Angeles Ballet
1981   Eglevsky Ballet Company
1982   Kansas City Ballet
1994   Pennsylvania Ballet
1998   Pennsylvania Ballet
2008   Miami City Ballet
2013   Ballet Chicago
2014   Suzanne Farrell Ballet
2015   Miami City Ballet
2018   Ballet Chicago

Recorded Performances
Videos/DVD
2003, VAI, The Art of Maria Tallchief (excerpts [1954])

1954 excerpt (NBC, Kate Smith Hour)
1956 pas de deux (CBS, Look Up and Live, “Expression of Life in Motion”)
1959 pas de deux (PBS, “Classical Ballet”)

Additional music information provided by Robert Irving, Jack Reed; additional revisions information provided by Merrill Ashley, Arlene Croce, Rosemary Dunleavy, Robert Irving

Balanchine in front of the curtain in a blue jacket and plaid pants after a performance of Union Jack
George Balanchine
Heather Watts in a penché, supported by Mel Tomlinson in a performance of Agon
The Foundation
Kyra Nichols amidst a corps of dancers all reaching to the side of stage in tulle skirts in a performance of Scotch Symphony
Resources
Donate