Staged by George Balanchine after Lev Ivanov, Marius Petipa, and Nicholas Beriozoff. Choreography for the WALTZ (Act I) and for the MAZURKA, CZARDAS, and DANCE OF THE PRINCESSES (Act III) by George Balanchine
Production
Scenery and costumes by Alexandre Benois, executed in the workshops of La Scala, Milan, and by Marie Gromtseff
Premiere
September 11, 1969, Ballet du Grand Théâtre, Geneva. Conductor: Jean Meylan
Cast
Odette, Queen of the Swans, Patricia Neary; The Evil Genius, Carlos Kloster; Prince Siegfried, Karl Musil; Jester, Jean-Marie Sosso; corps de ballet
Performance Type
Ballet
See Also
75. Swan Lake, 191. I Was an Adventuress, 262. Don Quixote and Swan Lake (Black Swan) Pas de Deux, 285. Swan Lake, 331. Pas de Deux (Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux)
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
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 York City Ballet, changes from first years in repertory: 1956, traditional ending of pas de deux replaced by coda for corps de ballet (to Tchaikovsky’s original score rather than the traditional Drigo interpolation); 1959, PAS DE TROIS omitted and new Prince’s solo added to that music (Grand Waltz from Act II), replacing original Prince’s solo to fourth variation of pas de six (Act III), traditional entrance of Swan Queen in coda rechoreographed; 1964, traditional Swan Queen solo replaced by new choreography (to Un Poco di Chopin, Op. 72, no. 15, 1893, orchestrated by Drigo) and subsequently changed several times, Prince’s solo rechoreographed (to music from Act I pas de trois) and subsequently changed several times and often omitted, pas de quatre (DANCE OF THE FOUR CYGNETS) replaced by WALTZ BLUETTE for 12 Swans (to orchestrated version of Valse Bagatelle, Op. 72, no. 11 in E-flat), role of Benno omitted; 1980, traditional Swan Queen solo and entrance in coda restored.
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
262. Don Quixote and Swan Lake (Black Swan) Pas de Deux 1949
Choreography
George Balanchine
Performance Type
Ballet
See Also
75. Swan Lake, 191. I Was an Adventuress, 285. Swan Lake, 331. Pas de Deux (Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux), 367. Le Lac des Cygnes
During the 1949 Ballet Theatre spring tour and New York season, Balanchine staged and to some degree altered the pas de deux from Don Quixote (Minkus, choreographed by Petipa), danced by Maria Tallchief and John Kriza, and the Black Swan pas de deux from Swan Lake Act III (Tchaikovsky, choreographed by Petipa), danced by Tallchief and Igor Youskevitch.
Ballet music by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky (primarily from Swan Lake, Act II, Op. 20, 1875-76)
Choreography
George Balanchine
Production
Twentieth-Century Fox. Produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. Associate Producer: Nunnally Johnson. Directed by Gregory Ratoff. Screenplay by Karl Tunberg, Don Ettlinger, and John O’Hara. Musical direction by David Buttolph. Cinematography by Edward Cronjager and Leon Shamroy. Film editing by Francis P. Lyon. Art direction by Richard Day and Joseph C. Wright. Set decoration by Thomas Little.
Cast
Countess Tanya Vronsky, Vera Zorina; Paul Vernay, Richard Greene; André Desormeaux, Erich von Stroheim; Polo, Peter Lorre; and others
Ballet: Swan Queen, Vera Zorina; Prince, Lew Christensen; Evil One, Charles Laskey; 18 swans. (Laskey and Christensen were uncredited.)
Performance Type
Film
See Also
75. Swan Lake, 262. Don Quixote and Swan Lake (Black Swan) Pas de Deux, 285. Swan Lake, 331. Pas de Deux (Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux), 367. Le Lac des Cygnes
An extremely abbreviated, rechoreographed version of Swan Lake, Act II, using such techniques as slow motion in jumps and fog for atmosphere that were developed with the choreographer’s collaboration. Some of the ideas for the corps de ballet were later used in the finale of Balanchine’s New York City Ballet version of Swan Lake [285]. There is a rehearsal sequence with Zorina in which the brief role of the Orchestra Leader is played by Balanchine, although credited to Fortunio Bonanova (a character actor, perhaps originally assigned the role).
Recorded Performances
Videos/DVD
2004, Kultur, Balanchine (SWAN LAKE ballet [excerpt])
Beth Genné, Arlene Croce, and David Vaughan (Fortunio Bonanova)
75. Swan Lake 1927
Music
Tschaikovsky
Choreography
George Balanchine
Performance Type
Ballet
See Also
191. I Was an Adventuress, 262. Don Quixote and Swan Lake (Black Swan) Pas de Deux, 285. Swan Lake, 331. Pas de Deux (Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux), 367. Le Lac des Cygnes
At some time in the mid-1920s (1927?), Balanchine made minor alterations in Diaghilev’s one-act Swan Lake (Tchaikovsky, choreographed by Ivanov and Petipa), deleting part of the Swan Queen’s mime and rearranging ensemble movements for a decreased corps de ballet. Olga Spessivtseva was probably the first ballerina to dance the Swan Queen in this revised version.
