139 years on, Swan Lake ballet continues to mesmerise audiences

Principal dancers Ekaterina Borchenko and Leonid Sarafanov perform Pyotr Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake ballet at the Mikhailovsky theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Wednesday. (Reuters)

Updated on: Sep 29, 2016 7:33 PM IST

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Principal dancers Ekaterina Borchenko and Leonid Sarafanov perform Pyotr Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake ballet at the Mikhailovsky theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Wednesday. (Reuters)

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One of the most popular ballets, Swan Lake was composed in 1875–76 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, a celebrated Russian composer of the late-Romantic period. (Reuters)

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The scene, originally depicted in two acts, is inspired from Russian folk tales and narrates the story of Odette, a princess who was turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer’s curse. (Reuters)

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The original production was choreographed by Václav Reisinger, who was also known as Julius Reisinger. (Reuters)

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Swan Lake ballet was first performed by the Bolshoi Ballet at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow in early 1877. (Reuters)

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Although Swan Lake is performed in various ways, most ballet troupes base their acts on the 1895 revival of Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, which was first staged at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburgon on January 15, 1895, for the Imperial Ballet. (Reuters)

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Tchaikovsky’s score was revised by the chief conductor and composer of St. Petersburg Imperial Theatre, Riccardo Drigo, for the revival. (Reuters)

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Other popular ballets by Tchaikovsky include Sleeping Beauty (1889) and The Nutcracker (1892). (Reuters)