Balanchine's Swan Lake

Sunday, March 28, 2021 at 2:00 pm

 

We close our 2021 Digital Season with George Balanchine’s Swan Lake. Considered to be one of the greatest classical ballets of all time, Swan Lake has endured for more than a century. The plot contains all the elements of a true epic masterpiece: romance, betrayal, and sorcery. While productions of Swan Lake abound the world over in a lengthy three or four-act version, in 1951, Balanchine produced a streamlined version that encapsulates the core of the story in a beautifully efficient single act. Balanchine added Tchaikovsky’s apotheosis to the end of this act, bringing the story to its conclusion in a seamless transition. This version remains in the repertoire of only a select few companies (including Mr. Balanchine’s New York City Ballet). It had not been seen in Chicago since 1976 until Ballet Chicago brought it to the Harris Theater stage in the spring of 2013.

 

Swan Lake

Choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust

Music by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky- Swan Lake, Opus 20

Staged by Sandra Jennings

Costumes after Karinska by Primadonna Tutus

Lighting by Margaret Nelson

Ballet Chicago Premiere – May 13, 2013

 

Odette, Queen of the Swans – BENITA BUNGER

Price Siegfried – KIRK HENNING

Von Rothbart – JORDAN NELSON

 

Swans

ELLEN GREEN and HANNAH MARKOWITZ

Susan Belles, Molly Brown, Emma Burton, Kyla Cakarnis, Katrina Cassiere,

Claire Duval, Emily Fugett, Elyse Jost, Madeleine Kodat, Madeline Miller, Laure Palya, 

Drew Pearson, Sarah Quander, Taylor Richard, Hannah Rosenfeld, Talita Rubio,

Mia Sanchez, Shea Smith, Sabina Stock, Isobel Tolles, Chloe Walker

 

Pas de Neuf

ELLEN GREEN

Susan Belles, Emma Burton, Katrina Cassiere, Claire Duval,

Emily Fugett, Sarah Quander, Shea Smith, Sabina Stock

 

Valse Bluette

MOLLY BROWN

Elyse Jost and Talita Rubio

Kyla Cakarnis, Madeline Kodat, Madeline Miller, Laure Palya,

Drew Pearson, Mia Sanchez, Isobel Tolles, Chloe Walker

 

Odette Variation

BENITA BUNGER

Meghan Behnke, Dana Coons, Devin Johnson, Taylor Richard

 

Hunters

Cyrus Bridwell, Jordan Craig, Kyle Davis, James Heeney,

Darius Malone, Alexander McCleery, Kahari Moore, Jordan Nelson

 

Apotheosis

Full Cast

 

The Balanchine ® Ballet presented in this program is protected by copyright. Any unauthorized photography or recording is prohibited without the expressed written consent of The George Balanchine Trust and Ballet Chicago. 

 

This performance of Swan Lake, a Balanchine ® Ballet, is presented by arrangement with The George Balanchine Trust and has been produced in accordance with the Balanchine Style ® and Balanchine Technique ®, service standards established and provided by the Trust.