Swan Lake is the vision of a poet: the beloved belongs to another world, the young woman/swan rendered inaccessible by virtue of her condition. Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov gave form to this fantasy in 1895, using the poignant score that Tchaikovsky had composed in 1877. In the version staged by Rudolf Nureyev for the Paris Opéra Ballet in 1984, the Prince Siegfried refuses the realities of power and marriage that his mother and tutor seek to impose upon him. He takes refuge in the imaginary, a vision of a magical lake that offers an idealized love that he is incapable of sustaining.

PAPREC « Mécène principal du Ballet de l’Opéra national de Paris »
ROLEX « Montre exclusive de l’Opéra national de Paris »
Ernst & Young « Mécène principal de l’Opéra national de Paris »

Photo : © Ann Ray / OnP