Beauty of folk tales like Swan Lake cannot be better expressed than in ballets and musicals, as they present the audio visually entertaining version of the story while preserving its original taste. A perfectly presented ballet makes the viewer indulged in the story so much that the whole world seems unreal to him for that time.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s creation, Swan Lake ballet was composed in 1875-76 and was originally adapted from Russian folk tales. The story revolved around a princess named Odette who was cursed by a sorcerer and turned into a swan. Performed for the first time in 1877 at Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, the ballet was choreographed by Julius Reisinger with the original name The Lake of The Swans. Later, many more versions were presented, most popular being the one by Lev Ivanov and Marius Petipa who prepared it for Imperial Ballet in 1895. Most of the companies presenting this ballet later based it on this revival for which Riccardo Drigo revised Tchaikovsky’s score. This revised version was presented for the first time at Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, Russia.

The origin of this story has been much discussed by critics, and many claim it to be the national ballet for its swans that come from classic Russian romantic stories and dance movements that come from Slovanic ring dances. Other critics also comment about its resemblance with the Russian folk tale The White Duck. The libretto is based on Der geraubte Schleier (The Stolen Veil), a story written by a German author named Jahann Karl August Musaus.

It is still controversial where this ballet originated first, especially its libretto’s author. Most of the critics credit it to Vladimir Petrovich Begichev and Vasily Geltser, director and Danseur of Imperial Theatres of Moscow respectively, at the time when it was produced. It is narrated by Tchaikovsky’s relatives that the original story was with the name The Lake of The Swans rather than The Swan Lake.

Swan Lake is believed to be one of the first ballets that were set by a symphonic composer. Tchaikovsky, before starting his work on Swan Lake, studied the artistic work of specialist composers that used to set music for ballets written in those days and were highly skilled in their field. Tchaikovsky later admitted that he could make it even better if he studied Delibes ballet before writing Swan Lake. Nevertheless, he made up for this when he later wrote The Sleeping Beauty.

Tchaikovsky was very excited while working on Swan Lake, and his passion for this piece of art can be appreciated by the fact that he composed the whole ballet within one year. Although the work was quite tough, still he managed to finish it in such a short time as his letters written to his friends reveal that he always wanted to work with this kind of music. In making of Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky worked in collaboration with Begichev that, according to some critics, was a bit difficult for both the artists to pull along. It was because of the fact that both felt more comfortable in working independently and desired to give Swan Lake a color of their own imagination. Nevertheless, the end result of their combined effort was still a masterpiece.

The storyline is about Princess Odette, the leading ballerina, her being converted to a swan by evil sorcerer Von Rothbart’s magic, and her Prince Siegfried who has been unfaithful to her.                Later, he sees Princess in her semi human form and falls in love with her. The story then moves on about how the Princess is rescued and how Rothbart tries to punish both of them. There are several alternative endings for the story in various versions of the play.

For the people who admire the beauty and charm of classic stories and themes, Swan Lake tickets offer much more than just entertainment. It is a whole experience that keeps the audience spellbound till the very last moment of the show!