Swan Lake

Swan Lake

Hi everybody, Mary here.

So, here is the fifth post in this special #TheatreWeek series, with the review of a classic ballet from Tchaikovsky, Swan Lake. So, without any further ado, let's get started, shall we ?

Swan Lake : an oath to love, in a world of magic, betrayal and redemption.

The very first point that I will talk about is the story itself, that tells the story of Odette, a young woman cursed by the magician Von Rothbart to be a swan by day and a woman by night. As prince Siegfried doesn't want to marry one of the rich, powerful women presented to him by his mother, he goes hunting some swans with his friend Benno and other people and meets Odette. They fall in love, Odette hopes that the curse will be broken thanks to Siegfried's love, but Von Rothbart sends Odile, his own daughter, disguised as Odette to seduce the prince and make him cheat on Odette, thus keeping Odette as a swan forever. When it happens, Odette is condemned to be a swan forever. She chooses death, followed by Siegfried, and as they are reunited in love and in death, Von Rothbart is killed by the power of their love, and the other swans who had chosen Odile as their queen are freed.

The second point is about the love story between Siegfried and Odile. The prince doesn't really want to rule the country and prefers having fun with his friends, especially his best friend Benno. Odette seems to be an introverted, shy woman with loads of modesty and is quite the opposite of Odile, who dances with extravaganza and is quite extroverted and flirtatious with the Prince. However, the fact that Von Rothbart HAD to send her in to order to make sure that Odile remains a swan forever shows that love IS really powerful in this ballet and finally prevails against the forces of evil. And last but not least, the fact that Odile and Odette are danced, in most cases, by the same ballerina, shows that the prima ballerina HAS to be competent on both sides, even if in most cases, she dances better one character than the other.

The third and last point is about politics. In a tale where marriages were arranged between countries to form alliances, the love between these protagonists is beyond the laws and social conventions. Not only this live is prevented by Von Rothbart, but also by the queen of the country where the story is happening, and maybe, Von Rothbart represents this spirit of conventional order. When Tchaikovsky composed this ballet, homophobia was sill very present in the society and as Tchaikovsky was a homosexual himself, and had a very complicated love life with "cover heterosexual" relationships that all failed, including a wedding.

Okay, that's it for today, I hope that you enjoyed this post and I will see you very soon with another one !

And as usual, our last word : KIDNEYS !