Analysis Of Swan Lake

Submitted By Jessica-Pfarr
Words: 798
Pages: 4

Jessica Pfarr
Mrs. Norton
Ballet 1
6 April 2015

“Swan Lake”- Extra Credit On Tuesday, March 10th I saw the Russian National Ballet Theatre perform the ballet classic “Swan Lake”, at Salisbury University. Featuring original music from Tchaikovsky and costumes and backdrops from Bolshoi the dancers were able to better portray the story. The performance begins with all the dancers dancing together in very eccentric costumes which indicated they were the royal family. The whole family was gathered together for Prince Siegfried’s birthday. While all the dancers were dancing together, the focus was mainly on The Prince. The dancers were doing a lot of acting and exaggerated arm movements in order to better explain to the audience what was taking place. During the celebration The Prince learns he someone to marry the next day. Angered with the news he just received The Prince leaves the to go to the forest. When The Prince exits the stage his movements are very precise and brisk. The music picks up pace and gets louder. The next act shows The Prince walking through the forest where he encounters a flock of swans and meets The Swan (Odette). He learns that the birds were once beautiful maidens before a curse was put on them by The Sorcerer (Von Rothbart). The Swan tells him that his love is the only way to reverse the curse. The swans, costumes were all white and they danced isync across the whole stage before getting into a formation that showcased The Prince and The Swan.
The Prince and The Swan began a partner dance in the middle of the stage, while the other swans were on the outside of them doing very little to no movements. This was to make sure that all the focus was on The Prince and The Swan’s dance. In their partner dance The Prince’s main role was to lift The Swan and support her when she did many different turns and moves while balancing on pointe, including a pirouette and an arabesque. After they danced together The Prince and The Swan both had solos, which was my favorite part of the performance. The Prince’s solo had many allegro movements and featured a lot of jumps and a long fouetté combination. The Swan’s solo had more adagio movements and featured her doing many leaps, balancing in different positions and also had a long fouetté combination. Compared to The Prince’s solo, The Swan’s solo was very graceful and each movement she did flowed into the next. I was able to notice when she got into different positions how she made sure to slowly extend each part of her leg and really elongate her body. Especially when she did moves like a penché and an arabesque. In the next act The Prince attends a ball where he is forced to pick who he will marry. The Sorcerer’s Daughter shows up uninvited to and tries to seduce The Prince. When The Daughter enters trumpets play and everyone faces her. Her dancing is focused on The Prince and her movements show that she is trying to get his