Le Lac des cygnes (1952)

Ballet in four acts by Vladimir Petrovitch Begichev and Vassily Fedorovitch Geltzer

CHOREOGRAPHY

Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, produced by Nicholas Sergeyev; revised by Ninette de Valois, with additions by Frederick Ashton

MUSIC

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (ballet, opus 20)

SCENERY & COSTUMES

Leslie Hurry

DANCERS

Odette/Odile: Beryl Grey; Prince Siegfried: John Field
Act I Valse (Pas de six): Rosemary Lindsay, Mary Drage, Svetlana Beriosova, Alexander Grant, Kenneth Melville, Philip Chatfield
Act III Neopolitan Dance: Julia Farron, Alexander Grant (sometimes given separately as a divertissement)

FIRST PERFORMANCE

Sadler’s Wells Ballet, Royal Opera House, London, 18 December 1952

New Stagings / Productions

Royal Ballet touring section, 1958

STAGING

Royal Ballet touring section

DANCERS

Odette/Odile: Rowena Jackson; Siegfried: Philip Chatfield

FIRST PERFORMANCE

Royal Opera House, London, 27 June 1958

Royal Ballet, 1963

NEW PRODUCTION

Royal Ballet, under the title Swan Lake; production devised and staged by Robert Helpmann, with additional choreography by Frederick Ashton, Rudolf Nureyev (Polonaise, Act I, and Mazurka, Act II) and Maria Fay (Czárdás, Act II)

MUSIC

Re-edited by John Lanchbery

SCENERY & COSTUMES

Carl Toms

DANCERS

Prologue (dropped from 4 March 1967): Odette: Margot Fonteyn; Rothbart: Keith Rosson; Princess Odette’s attendants: corps de ballet
Act I Scene 1 Waltz: Deanne Bergsma, Vyvyan Lorrayne, Monica Mason, Rosalind Eyre, Carole Needham, Vergie Derman, Robert Mead, Anthony Dowell, Bryan Lawrence, David Drew, Austin Bennett, Kenneth Mason
Act I Scene I Pas de quatre: Antoinette Sibley, Merle Park, Brian Shaw, Graham Usher
Act I Scene 2 (formerly Act II) Dance of the Four Swans: Deanne Bergsma, Monica Mason, Vergie Derman, Carol Needham
Act II (formerly Act III) Dance of the Guests: corps de ballet
Act II Spanish Dance: Georgina Parkinson, Monica Mason, Desmond Doyle, Christopher Gable
Act II Neapolitan Dance: Merle Park, Alexander Grant
Act III (formerly Act IV): Odette: Margot Fonteyn; Siegfried: David Blair; Rothbart: Keith Rosson; Swans, Cygnets: corps de ballet

FIRST PERFORMANCE

Royal Opera House, London, 12 December 1963

Royal Ballet touring section, 1965

NEW PRODUCTION

Royal Ballet touring section; choreography revised by Frederick Ashton and John Field, with additions by Frederick Ashton as in 1952/1963

SCENERY & COSTUMES

Leslie Hurry

DANCERS

Odette/Odile: Nadia Nerina; Siegfried: Attilio Labis
Act I Waltz (Pas de six) (1952): Anya Linden, Christine Beckley, Deirdre O’Conaire, David Wall, Piers Beaumont, Jelko Yuresha
Act III Neapolitan Dance: Shirley Grahame, Michael Coleman
Act III Spanish Dance: Jennifer Layland, Christine Beckley, Jelko Yuresha, Richard Farley

FIRST PERFORMANCE

Royal Opera House, London, 18 May 1965

Royal Ballet, 1971

NEW PRODUCTION

Royal Ballet; the touring section’s 1965 production but with Ashton’s 1965 Waltz, Pas de quatre, Neapolitan and Spanish Dances, And Act IV (formerly called Act III); from 25 October 1972 Ashton’s Act IV was dropped and Ivanov’s restored, Petipa’s Pas de trois was restored to Act I and Ashton’s Pas de quatre moved to Act III

SCENERY & COSTUMES

Leslie Hurry

DANCERS

Odette/Odile: Antoinette Sibley; Siegfried: Anthony Dowell; Rothbart: Derek Rencher
Pas de quatre: Lesley Collier, Laura Connor, Michael Coleman, Robert Mead
Neapolitan Dance: Lesley Collier, Alexander Grant
Spanish Dance: Rosalind Eyre, Monica Mason, Robert Mead, Carl Myers

FIRST PERFORMANCE

Royal Opera House, London, 17 February 1971

Ballet for All, 1978

STAGING

Ballet for All; pas de quatre (1963) only

FIRST PERFORMANCE

Wycliffe College, Stroud, 10 October 1978

Royal Ballet, 1979

NEW PRODUCTION

Royal Ballet; production by Norman Morrice; this production included the following numbers by Ashton:

DANCERS

Act I Waltz (1963)
Act II Pas de quatre (1963): Wendy Ellis, Hilary Tickner, Julian Hosking, Mark Silver
Neapolitan Dance (1952): Rosemary Taylor, Wayne Sleep
Spanish Dance (1963): Rosalind Eyre, Jacqui Tallis, Ashley Page, Stephen Sheriff
Act IV (1963): Odette: Lesley Collier; Siegfried: David Wall

FIRST PERFORMANCE

Royal Opera House, London, 5 December 1979

Royal Ballet, 1991

NEW PRODUCTION

Royal Ballet; production by Anthony Dowell

SCENERY & COSTUMES

Yolanda Sonnabend

FIRST PERFORMANCE

Metropolitan Opera House, New York NY, 8 July 1991

This production was first staged at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 1987, when it included none of Ashton’s choreography; the Neapolitan Dance was added in 1991: Nicola Roberts, Simon Rice

By Other Companies

Fonteyn World Tour, 1965

STAGING

Fonteyn World Tour; Neapolitan Dance, in Divertissements from Swan Lake

DANCERS

Pamela Moncur, Alexander Grant

FIRST PERFORMANCE

Herod Atticus Theatre, Athens, 9 August 1965

State Ballet of Turkey, 1965

STAGING

State Ballet of Turkey; Neapolitan Dance, in a production by Dudley Tomlinson

FIRST PERFORMANCE

National Theatre, Ankara, 29 October 1965

Pennsylvania Ballet, 1972

STAGING

Pennsylvania Ballet; Neapolitan Dance, in Divertissements from Swan Lake

REPRODUCED BY

Christopher Newton

FIRST PERFORMANCE

Academy of Music, Philadelphia, 20 September 1972

Palm Beach Festival, 1983

STAGING

Palm Beach Festival; Neapolitan Dance only

DANCERS

Antoinette Peloso, Gary Chryst

FIRST PERFORMANCE

West Palm Beach Auditorium, Palm Beach FL, 22 March 1983

London Festival Ballet, 1988

NEW PRODUCTION

London Festival Ballet; production and choreography by Natalia Makarova, after Lev Ivanov and Marius Petipa, with additional choreography by Frederick Ashton

SCENERY

Gunther Schneider-Siemssen

COSTUMES

Dietmar Solt

DANCERS

Act I Waltz (1963)
Act II Pas de quatre (1963): Andria Hall, Janette Mulligan, Koen Ouzia, Matz Skoog
Neapolitan Dance (1952): Karen Gee, Matz Skoog
Act IV (1963): Odette: Trinidad Sevillano; Siegfried: Patrick Armand

FIRST PERFORMANCE

Alhambra Theatre, Bradford, 12 April 1988

Rambert School, 2004

STAGING

Pas de quatre only: Rambert School

REPRODUCED BY

Therese Cantine and Diana Vere

DANCERS

Saari Minamoto, Joe Monaghan, Pablo Sansalvador-Chambert, Ayako Toyama

FIRST PERFORMANCE

Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House, 18 May 2004

English National Ballet, 2000

NEW PRODUCTION

English National Ballet; choreography by Derek Deane, after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov; additional choreography by Frederick Ashton

SCENERY & COSTUMES

Peter Farmer

DANCERS

Act I Waltz (1963), Act II Pas de quatre (1963): Clara Barbara, Sarah Mcllroy, Shi-Ning Liu, Nathan Coppen
Neapolitan Dance (1952): Amanda Armstrong, Yosvani Ramos

FIRST PERFORMANCE

Mayflower, Southampton, 16 October 2000 (preview 14 October 2000)

Perm Ballet, 2005

NEW PRODUCTION

Perm Ballet; production and choreography by Natalia Makarova, after Lev Ivanov and Marius Petipa, with additional choreography by Konstantin Sergeyev and Frederick Ashton

SCENERY

Peter Farmer

COSTUMES

Galina Solovyova

DANCERS

Act I Waltz (1963), Act IV (1963): Odette: Elena Kulagina; Siegfried: Inaki Urlezaga

FIRST PERFORMANCE

P.I.Tchaikovsky State Opera and Ballet Theatre, Perm, 13 May 2005