Julien Benhamou / OnP

Ballet

Swan Lake

Rudolf Nureyev

Opéra Bastille

from 16 February to 19 March 2019

Swan Lake

Opéra Bastille - from 16 February to 19 March 2019

Synopsis

In Swan Lake, Tchaikovsky took up the legend of the immaculate bird to create some of the most beautiful music ever written for ballet. The choreographers Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov left their distinguished mark on this story of an impossible love between an earthly prince and a bird‑princess, refashioning the myth of the swan‑dancer, the ultimate ballerina. When creating his version for the Paris Opera Ballet in 1984, Rudolf Nureyev chose to give it a Freudian dimension, illuminating Tchaikovsky’s poetic dream through a sense of profound hopelessness.

Duration :

  • Opening

  • First part 80 min

  • Intermission 25 min

  • Second part 70 min

  • End

Artists

Ballet in four acts

After Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov

Creative team

Cast

  • Saturday 16 February 2019 at 19:30
  • Sunday 17 February 2019 at 14:30
  • Tuesday 19 February 2019 at 19:30
  • Wednesday 20 February 2019 at 19:30
  • Thursday 21 February 2019 at 19:30
  • Friday 22 February 2019 at 19:30
  • Saturday 23 February 2019 at 19:30
  • Tuesday 26 February 2019 at 19:30
  • Friday 01 March 2019 at 19:30
  • Saturday 02 March 2019 at 19:30
  • Sunday 03 March 2019 at 14:30
  • Tuesday 05 March 2019 at 19:30
  • Wednesday 06 March 2019 at 19:30
  • Friday 08 March 2019 at 19:30
  • Saturday 09 March 2019 at 19:30
  • Monday 11 March 2019 at 19:30
  • Tuesday 12 March 2019 at 19:30
  • Thursday 14 March 2019 at 19:30
  • Friday 15 March 2019 at 19:30
  • Tuesday 19 March 2019 at 19:30

Latest update 05 March 2019, cast is likely to change.

Latest update 05 March 2019, cast is likely to change.

Latest update 05 March 2019, cast is likely to change.

Latest update 05 March 2019, cast is likely to change.

Latest update 05 March 2019, cast is likely to change.

Latest update 05 March 2019, cast is likely to change.

Latest update 05 March 2019, cast is likely to change.

Latest update 05 March 2019, cast is likely to change.

Latest update 05 March 2019, cast is likely to change.

Latest update 05 March 2019, cast is likely to change.

Latest update 05 March 2019, cast is likely to change.

Latest update 05 March 2019, cast is likely to change.

Latest update 05 March 2019, cast is likely to change.

Latest update 05 March 2019, cast is likely to change.

Latest update 05 March 2019, cast is likely to change.

Latest update 05 March 2019, cast is likely to change.

Latest update 05 March 2019, cast is likely to change.

Latest update 05 March 2019, cast is likely to change.

Latest update 05 March 2019, cast is likely to change.

Latest update 05 March 2019, cast is likely to change.

Les Étoiles, les Premiers Danseurs et le Corps de Ballet
Paris Opera Orchestra

Media

  • Two years of reflection

    Two years of reflection

    Read the article

  • Story(ies)

    Story(ies)

    Watch the video

  • The symbolism of Swan Lake, from stage to screen

    The symbolism of Swan Lake, from stage to screen

    Read the article

  • Between magic and poetry

    Between magic and poetry

    Watch the video

  • Podcast Le Lac des cygnes

    Podcast Le Lac des cygnes

    Listen the podcast

  • The Swans of the "Lake"

    The Swans of the "Lake"

    Read the article

© Julien Benhamou / OnP

Two years of reflection

Read the article

Interview with Léonore Baulac and Germain Louvet

07 min

Two years of reflection

By Cyril Pesenti

In 2016, Léonore Baulac and Germain Louvet were named Étoile dancers after two performances of Swan Lake. Since then, they have both taken on numerous roles. They are now coming back together to play Odette/Odile and Prince Siegfried. Octave went to meet with them to ask them for their impressions and to reflect on their careers.


In 2016, you were both named Étoile Dancers after two performances of Swan Lake. Today, how do you feel about dancing the ballet again?

Léonore Baulac: It’s a pleasure and a privilege to dance such a masterpiece from the repertoire. However, having been named an Étoile in the role of Odette/Odile doesn’t diminish the difficulty and pressure that the role engenders.

Germain Louvet: Beyond the fact that we were both named Étoiles for the same ballet, it’s the first great classical ballet that Léonore and I are dancing again. Up until now, I’ve practically only performed roles that are new for me. This is an opportunity for me to rediscover the sensations from two years ago and build on them by giving greater depth to the artistic and dramatic aspect of the role of Prince Siegfried. Technically, it’s almost like putting on an outfit which has been sitting in the closet for two years but you’re happy to be wearing it again.

Taking into account the various new roles you have performed over the last two years, what new elements would you like to bring when you play your character?

LB: I’ve sought to improve my rendition of the role’s highly distinctive arm work and upper-body work to make me seem as much like a bird as possible. I also wanted to accentuate Odette’s fragility and put greater emphasis on the tragedy of her condemnation in the fourth act.

GL: These last two years have given me greater confidence and self-assurance. I’ve tried to use that experience to give greater gravitas and theatricality to my role. Two years ago, I allowed myself to be guided by my instincts. Now, I want to embark on a more profound exploration by examining the details: where to focus my gaze, how to interact with the dancers of the Corps de Ballet, with Rothbart, Odette, etc. In 2016, performing the role enabled me to find depth, precision, a personal balance, a certain ease. Performing it again two years later allows me to see how my body and my mind have developed.
    

Léonore, how do you manage to perform the dual role of Odette/Odile?

LB: Obviously, the two characters need to contrast each other. Odette is pure and fragile while Odile is seductive and manipulative. However, one still has to insufflate Odile with enough ambiguity to make Prince Siegfried’s doubts seem credible.
   

Germain, in your view, how do you perform “a good Prince Siegfried”?

GL: I think it’s important to be able to express a certain duality. You need to find the right balance between a character of high rank and noble elegance and at the same time be able to reveal the tortured and melancholic human side of a young adolescent prince who is still trying to find himself. To achieve that, I looked to my own experiences to find a way to express it on stage.  

Léonore Baulac et Germain Louvet dans Le Lac des cygnes, Opéra Bastille, 2016
Léonore Baulac et Germain Louvet dans Le Lac des cygnes, Opéra Bastille, 2016 © Svetlana Loboff / OnP

The Corps de Ballet plays a major role in the piece. Does this large-scale mobilisation on the part of the troupe affect your performance?

LB: The Corps de Ballet in Swan Lake is magnificent. As a matter of fact, my favourite passage as a spectator is the dance of the swans at the beginning of the fourth act. It’s also one of the hardest ballets for the dancers. Certain poses, for example, are really long and painful. So, we decided with Germain to not linger on or prolong certain gestures because we knew that there were 24 dancers behind us with cramps. It’s a question of teamwork and we all support each other.

GL: The Corps de Ballet is the life force which holds the whole performance together. In general terms, it is the cement of a classical ballet like Swan Lake. For me, there are two forms of interactions. The first has to do with the narrative. The Corps de Ballet provides the material and gives me what I need to work with so I can give a quality performance. The second is more personal. The Corps de Ballet is an essential support for the soloists. For me personally, it allows me to maintain my self-confidence and to feel motivated and assisted.
    

In more general terms, what is your relationship with Tchaikovsky and Nureyev’s choreographic work? What, in your view, makes Swan Lake such a unique ballet?

LB: Tchaikovsky is a masterpiece that never ceases to stir and inspire. By combining it with the bright idea of transforming the woman into a mythological creature whose grace can exceed that of a human makes the ballet quite unique. I am always impressed by works which manage to move people in such a universal way across time and through the generations.

GL: In my opinion, Tchaikovsky poured his soul, his sensitivity and his suffering into the music for Swan Lake. It may be a pain linked to his sexuality in an era when he couldn’t live it fully. We need to perform these roles with the emotion contained in the music. It’s like constantly having to battle between the joy of discovering who you are and the fear of not being able to accept the discovery. I think that Nureyev made much use of that ambivalence and fragility to steer his choreographic narrative.
    

In retrospect, what are the roles that have marked you the most? And what roles would you like to tackle next?

LB: To dance Nureyev’s Romeo and Juliet, Pina Bausch’s Rite of Spring and John Neumeier’s La Dame aux camélias were dreams, and to actually realise them was particularly fulfilling both in my career and in my life. Today, I dream of dancing them again. Now, I’d really like to tackle the roles of Tatiana in Cranko’s Onegin and Giselle. There are a lot of contemporary choreographers who I’d like to work with, and with a little luck, I’d like to participate in creations that will also mark the history of dance!

GL: My role in Romeo and Juliet turned out to be a true artistic encounter. After Swan Lake, Don Quichotte proved to be a great personal challenge. It really was the first time that I’d performed a role that was less “serious”, it was rather like being cast against type, but it ultimately allowed me to discover another facet. I realised that when you are honest with yourself, you always find a way to fit with character. Sasha Waltz’s Romeo and Juliet was outstanding. Working with her and Juan Cruz Diaz de Esnaola was extremely fulfilling. It was the first time that I’d danced on stage simply as myself without artifice. As for the future, I dream of dancing both Béjart’s Boléro and Pina Bausch. I also want to perform Mayerling. In terms of classical ballets, the Prince in Sleeping Beauty, the Chevalier Des Grieux in Manon or Armand in La Dame aux camélias are roles that I would love to dance.    


Swan Lake by Rudolf Nureyev
Drawing on ancient Slavic and Norse mythology where destiny is often born out of the mysterious forces of nature, Swan Lake has become a legend in its own right...

© Elena Bauer / OnP

Story(ies)

Watch the video

Swan Lake

4:08 min

Story(ies)

By Vincent Cordier

The story of a work through its theme and development: from its composition by Tchaikovsky in 1877, to the version given by choreographer Marius Petipa in 1895 and on to the one Rudolf Nureyev imagined for the Paris Opera Ballet in 1984.


Swan Lake by Rudolf Nureyev
Drawing on ancient Slavic and Norse mythology where destiny is often born out of the mysterious forces of nature, Swan Lake has become a legend in its own right...

© Julien Benhamou / OnP

The symbolism of Swan Lake, from stage to screen

Read the article

Inner turmoil and artistic perfection

05 min

The symbolism of Swan Lake, from stage to screen

By Paola Dicelli

Swan Lake was the first music for a ballet which the Bolshoi Theatre commissioned from Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1877, to accompany the choreography of Julius Wenzel Reisinger. The initial version was judged mediocre at the time, however, it was unearthed thirteen years later by Marius Petipa. If he remains faithful to Tchaikovsky’s intentions, the symbolism of the white swan and the black swan was explored in greater depth by Rudolf Nureyev to give the ballet a more psychoanalytical dimension. That interpretation would later be used by a number of filmmakers as they constructed psychological thrillers while questioning the quest for artistic perfection.   

Several versions of Swan Lake exist, but the one by Rudolf Nureyev — created for the Paris Opera Ballet in December 1984— undoubtedly remains the most Freudian. The choreographer opted to place a male character, Prince Siegfried, at the heart of the narrative to portray the full gamut of his emotions on stage. In the prologue, the dozing prince has a “strange and premonitory” dream just as the synopsis for the ballet indicates. A princess is captured by a bird of prey and takes to the skies with it…a scene that in reality heralds the end of the ballet. In Leonardo da Vinci a Memory of His Childhood, published in 1943, Sigmund Freud writes: “To be a bird is only a disguise for another wish […] in a dream, the desire to fly signifies nothing other than the inner desire to be capable of sexual activities”.

Here, Odette, the white swan, symbolises the perfect woman, the one to which Siegfried must go to, even though he is irremediably attracted to a darker more shameful desire (homosexuality?) represented by Odile, the black swan. This inner turmoil is also exacerbated by Wolfgang, his tutor, and Rothbart, the cruel magician, each in turn a symbol of a Freudian projection of the Superego (reason) and the Id (perversion). This analysis is all the more poignant when we take into account that Tchaikovsky himself was homosexual. Embittered by this, Tchaikovsky wrote at the time in a letter to his brother Modest: “I find that our tendencies are the greatest and most insurmountable obstacle to happiness”. A quote that could equally be applied to Siegfried, who ends up mired alone in the fog of his own consciousness.    

Black Swan avec Natalie Portman, Darren Aronofsky, 2010
Black Swan avec Natalie Portman, Darren Aronofsky, 2010 © Collection Christophel / Fox Searchlight Pictures / Cross Creek Pictures

In 2010, Darren Aronofsky directed the film Black Swan, the story of Nina, a dancer at the New York City Ballet who, after accepting the role of Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, plunges into a profound introspection that ultimately leads to her demise. Even though the ballet staged in the film is not Nureyev's, the director draws inspiration from the choreographer’s Freudian aspirations to turn Nina’s life into a mise en abyme of Swan Lake. At the beginning of the film, the dancer is a young innocent girl who cuddles the stuffed toys in her room and seems withdrawn. She has everything to embody the white swan or rather, on a second level, everything to embody Siegfried. Like him, she often has dreams haunted by a black bird—a representation of her repressed fantasies of rebellion, strength and desire for a woman (Lily, a fellow dancer). Nina in fact seems more like Siegfried’s avatar than the “Black Swan” at the end of the film: at the film’s conclusion, she dies in the costume of the white swan after fighting her morbid impulses. Just like the prince in the ballet, who is left alone and unhappy once the evil has been banished.

But Swan Lake also questions the quest for perfection in an artist, particularly a dancer. In the ballet, that perfection is symbolised by the white swan—an unattainable figure for Siegfried. Furthermore, irrespective of the choreography, there has only ever been one dancer to portray these two swans with diametrically opposed characters. It is a complex interpretation and a rite of passage for any ballerina who dreams of surpassing herself. It is also symbolic of self-denial and a font of inspiration for filmmakers. In Black Swan, Nina is in search of the ideal incarnation and ready to die for it. As such, in the closing scene, after stabbing herself with a piece of glass (while fighting against her inner enemy), she performs the final act, collapses, covered in blood, and murmurs: “That was perfect”.    

Les chaussons rouges avec  Moira Shearer, Michael Powell, 1949
Les chaussons rouges avec Moira Shearer, Michael Powell, 1949 © Collection Christophel / RnB © Independent Producers

Another example can be seen in the 1948 film The Red Slippers by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. In that film, Victoria Page is a young ballerina whose performance in Swan Lake is criticised by the director of the ballet. Madly in love, she does not manage to express herself in her art and must choose between her lover and her love for dance... In utter despair, the young girl ends up killing herself by jumping off the balcony of the Opera. Here again, Swan Lake seems to be the driving force of the same passion: to abandon everything for the sake of art, at the risk of losing one’s life.


Between magic and poetry

Watch the video

The Opera Ballet in "Swan Lake"

3:07 min

Between magic and poetry

By Ann Ray

From its creation at the Bolshoi Theatre in 1877 to Rudolf Nureyev's version for the Paris Opera Ballet in 1984, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake has undergone various interpretations whilst losing none of its splendour. A poetic dream, the story of an impossible love between an earthly prince and a bird-princess, this timeless work extends the dream beyond dance, probing the human depths and the power of the imagination.


Swan Lake by Rudolf Nureyev
Drawing on ancient Slavic and Norse mythology where destiny is often born out of the mysterious forces of nature, Swan Lake has become a legend in its own right...

Podcast Le Lac des cygnes

Listen the podcast

"Dance! Sing! 7 minutes at the Paris Opera" - by France Musique

08 min

Podcast Le Lac des cygnes

By Jean-Baptiste Urbain, France Musique

"Dance! Sing! 7 minutes at the Paris Opera" offers original incursions into the season thanks to broadcasts produced by France Musique and the Paris Opera. For each opera or ballet production, Nathalie Moller (opera) and Jean-Baptiste Urbain (dance), present the works and artists you are going to discover when you attend performances in our theatres.  

Swan Lake by Rudolf Nureyev
Drawing on ancient Slavic and Norse mythology where destiny is often born out of the mysterious forces of nature, Swan Lake has become a legend in its own right...

© Svetlana Loboff / OnP

The Swans of the "Lake"

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Memories of a production

04 min

The Swans of the "Lake"

By Clotilde Vayer

Signature ballet of the Company’s repertoire, Rudolf Noureev’s version of Swan Lake is back on stage at the Opéra Bastille. The well-known story of Prince Siegfried in love with Odette, a young woman whom Rothbart has transformed into a swan, never ceases to please both the young and the old. Even more well-known are the Corps de Ballet who embody the thirty-two swans accompanying Odette and subjugate the spectator. With fascinating precision, the dancers draw perfect geometric lines and adopt long majestic poses in which, perfectly grouped as one, they become almost immaterial. The utter precision of the choreography is an immense challenge. Clotilde Vayer, Associate Ballet Mistress, reveals the work done in rehearsal.    

"The Lake" has a very important place in my career. I danced in Bourmeister's version as soon as I joined the Paris Opera's Corps de Ballet. When Nureyev proposed his version, the majority of the Corps de Ballet were ready to go on strike against his decision! He then had the sense to say he was scheduling both versions in the same season. His "Lake" soon became the Paris Opera's iconic version. This is the version in which I first danced the role of Odette/Odile. I later revived the ballet as Assistant Ballet-Mistress and it was following this production that Hugues Gall appointed me Ballet Mistress.

The defining feature of the Corps de Ballet in Swan Lake is its homogeneity. A homogeneity which above all must not be mechanical. There is poetry to be found in resemblance and harmony. In the way we use our arms, for example, or catch the light. It is very difficult to be truly as one, identical to the person in front of you. For this reason it's a very difficult ballet for the dancers. Not only do they have painful poses but they also have to pay constant attention to the others in order to be as one, to breathe as one. They play an essential role, their presence is crucial to the beauty and magic of the ballet. I try to accompany every gesture with an intention just as I do when working with the soloists. When they surround Odette, their round is accompanied by a feeling of tenderness and their poses must always suggest humility. In my opinion, each swan represents a double of Odette.    

Répétition du Lac des cygnes
Répétition du Lac des cygnes © Svetlana Loboff / OnP

At first, I work on the steps, the geometric lines and symmetries which form the choreography's skeleton. It is essential to know the steps to be able to add the "flesh" afterwards. They have to be learnt very quickly because we have little rehearsal time: places and positions are agreed upon beforehand. When we arrive in the studio, each dancer already knows his or her place and his or her sequences.    

During rehearsals, I go over all the versions danced during Rudolf's lifetime. His first version, performed in Vienna, is illuminating and shares similarities with the one created for the Paris Opera. I draw on archives, especially films, and try to find inspiration in direct sources to reconstruct the choreography and be as close as possible to Nureyev's style.    

The work of transmission is twofold: to remain faithful to the original version whilst adapting it to the dancers' physiques and personalities. Every Ballet Master proposes his or her own Swan Lake. Reviving a ballet is as much a question of fidelity to the original version as of personal choice.    

  • Swan Lake by Rudolf Nureyev
  • Swan Lake by Rudolf Nureyev (Hannah O'Neill, Sae Eun Park & Paul Marque)
  • Swan Lake by Rudolf Nureyev - Pas de quatre
  • Swan Lake by Rudolf Nureyev - Siegfried (Germain Louvet)
  • Swan Lake by Rudolf Nureyev (Léonore Baulac, Germain Louvet & François Alu)
  • Le Lac des cygnes " Danse des coupes "

    — By In partnership with France Musique

  • Le Lac des cygnes - Solo Violon Puis Duo Violon Cello

    — By In partnership with France Musique

  • Le Lac des cygnes (saison 18/19)- Acte 2

    — By In partnership with France Musique

  • Le Lac des cygnes (saison 18/19)- Acte 4

    — By In partnership with France Musique

  • Le Lac des cygnes (saison 18/19)- Acte 1

    — By In partnership with France Musique

Access and services

Opéra Bastille

Place de la Bastille

75012 Paris

Public transport

Underground Bastille (lignes 1, 5 et 8), Gare de Lyon (RER)

Bus 29, 69, 76, 86, 87, 91, N01, N02, N11, N16

Calculate my route
Car park

Q-Park Opéra Bastille 34, rue de Lyon 75012 Paris

Book your parking spot

In both our venues, discounted tickets are sold at the box offices from 30 minutes before the show:

  • €25 tickets for under-28s, unemployed people (with documentary proof less than 3 months old) and senior citizens over 65 with non-taxable income (proof of tax exemption for the current year required)
  • €40 tickets for senior citizens over 65

Get samples of the operas and ballets at the Paris Opera gift shops: programmes, books, recordings, and also stationery, jewellery, shirts, homeware and honey from Paris Opera.

Opéra Bastille
  • Open 1h before performances and until performances end
  • Get in from within the theatre’s public areas
  • For more information: +33 1 40 01 17 82

Opéra Bastille

Place de la Bastille

75012 Paris

Public transport

Underground Bastille (lignes 1, 5 et 8), Gare de Lyon (RER)

Bus 29, 69, 76, 86, 87, 91, N01, N02, N11, N16

Calculate my route
Car park

Q-Park Opéra Bastille 34, rue de Lyon 75012 Paris

Book your parking spot

In both our venues, discounted tickets are sold at the box offices from 30 minutes before the show:

  • €25 tickets for under-28s, unemployed people (with documentary proof less than 3 months old) and senior citizens over 65 with non-taxable income (proof of tax exemption for the current year required)
  • €40 tickets for senior citizens over 65

Get samples of the operas and ballets at the Paris Opera gift shops: programmes, books, recordings, and also stationery, jewellery, shirts, homeware and honey from Paris Opera.

Opéra Bastille
  • Open 1h before performances and until performances end
  • Get in from within the theatre’s public areas
  • For more information: +33 1 40 01 17 82

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