SWAN LAKE Ballet - Explained! (The story of Swan Lake)

SWAN LAKE explained - An introduction to the story of Swan Lake and explanations of all three acts.

[@Angie_OwOb]

Well. Barbie lied to me.

[@sinbunnie5959]

Yeah Hahahaha

[@parepidemosproductions4741]

That's exactly why were all here... But I guess they had to dillute it a little for our young minds.. suicidal bond? I don't think we would understand the depth of love at that time😅

[@zellequinonez8906]

For real tho, but it's still my favorite barbie movie.

[@danorose9746]

Zelle Quinonez same like it’s the best

[@miguelsonofzeus]

I died! 🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣

[@LATINHANDS65]

So THAT'S what I was watching for 3 hours!!!!

[@gamelifeusa]

Lol

[@lxns_metanoia]

😂

[@tobito2013]

If you think about it, their love story was as long as two days. Wasn't even fully two days.

[@xhappyponyxwasmyoldname1395]

Reminds me of Romeo and Juliet

[@manasisnehal1572]

Reminds me of Jack and Rose

[@yayoeliasgiron4892]

That's how fairy tales work.

[@JEON_CENA]

@@manasisnehal1572 jack saved rose multiple times

[@FlowerItzel18]

sounds like my love life 😭

[@Eszra]

I used to love Swan Lake, still adore the music, but the story ticks me off. The vow the Prince made is still true because he was making it to the real Odette. He isn't in love with the black swan because she is a false image. It is Odette he see's and believes he is with, thus he never broke his vow.

[@dexterdamonkey]

Sweet, but not how traditional fairy tales work - which inspired this ballet. A false image is just a cheap reflection, therefore any oath made to a cheap reflection counts as a vow broken. European & Russian fairy tales are all very christianity-based, and graven images/idols/false reflections are all Bad and Evil. Your interpretation is less gross, I agree.

[@Brenna_Ellie]

Exactly

[@alyssaagnew4147]

Well, if you look at it that way, than the Barbie version actually improved on this element. The prince vowed to Odile saying he loved her from Rothbart saying "Do you love my daughter?"

[@CoconutButt]

No, he declared his love to Odile. He tricked him, as she appeared to him as Odette. But it is still Odile.

[@RocknRollDina]

thats why shouldnt fall in love with an image of a person

[@hanoman78]

I thought the Black Swan film was a live action film of swan lake 🤦🏻‍♂️ and now i know.. Got it, thanks sir..

[@markbeck8384]

What I always wonder is: what a is von Rothbart's goal? Why does he turn Odette into a Swan, and what is his reason for wanting to keep her that way? And we know the Swans are her maidens, but what happened to her family, and why don't Siegfried and his mother know the story, since they are apparently in close neighbor kingdoms. Also, who is Odile, and why does she help? Does she have any motive or goal in seducing the Prince? And where and how do she and her father live: another nearby kingdom?? Is she a real daughter or just a magical creation? and where is HER mother? Does the Queen know von Rothbart? Too many loose ends, and a happy ending never works in this! I guess part of the reason the ballet lives on, aside from the music and some of the choreography, is that the story can be twisted/finished in multiple versions.

[@felicity1877]

These are all good questions! I think the main problem with Swan Lake, is that it connects many sources and references to culture and romantic plot devices in opera and ballet; so the story was confusing; or at least more clear in this area. From the source material, there are different interpretations possible. That is why, there were also more different explanations. In Vaganova's version, it's Rothbart's goal to make his daughter queen (and who wouldn't want to marry a prince?). In many Swan Princess tales, the princess is enchanted by a sorcerer because he wants to force her to marry him. In the original 1877 libretto, it was Odette's stepmother who tried to destroy her stepdaughter. In the 1877 libretto, Odette was not a princess, but a knight's daughter; and protected secretly at the lake by her grandfather. Her mother is in the 1877 libretto already dead and the lake was made out of the tears weapt for this mother. Von Rothbart was in the 1877 libretto a demon, which means a nature spirit, also simply related somehow to nature (I guess that the "Von" was fashioned after the demon "Von Kühleborn" in the opera Uninda, as he expresses him equal to nobility). The thing with the later arriving at the ball shouldn't matter; as also Kühleborn in Undina could mask easily as nobleman and ambassador; and similar also Cinderella going to the ball in Cinderella and no one would question her (; Odile is sometimes interpreted as just a product of magic; but I think she should be seen as daughter. In romantic ballets, we have often father-daughter-relationships opposed to the main couple, just like Bathilde in Giselle or Gamzatti in La Bayadere, or in the German legend, Rotbart and Utchen in the Kyffhäuser Mountain. And lastly, we will not know. Rotbart and Odile were originally the test put on Siegfried, whether he would keep his vow or not. Odette was not an enchanted swan,but a fairy shape shifter; and I'm still theorizing that Odile could be Odette in disguise; or at least, it could have been an early draft. When Petipa/Lev Ivanov recreated the story, they probably used La Bayadere and the simple fairy tales as model for Swan Lake;

[@felicity1877]

@@dh7164 Interesting thoughts - but: Probably, you haven't considered the Odyssey, to take it as example for a 360 view and the preference of a fulfilled life ----

[@felicity1877]

@@dh7164 I agree with your intriguing thoughts! I think it nevertheless depends then how Siegfried is depcited in Swan Lake, whether as hero or another type. From what I know about swan princess tales (e.g. The stolen veil), there is often the main character a kind of trickster, just like Odysseus. And nevertheless, ballets tell as preference tales about heroines. Odette is for me the one with integrity. I try to think of her like Tatyana in Onegin...It'sa fascinating area of discussion...

[@felicity1877]

@@dh7164 I'm glad that you are supporting the emphasis on the heroine, as so many ballet companies switched to productions with Odette only an illusion. Yet, I appreciate the 1895 version by Petipa and Modest Tchaikovsky, but there had been the 1877 version with a slightly different story by Vladimir Begichev and Peter Tchaikovsky, and that is why, I feel I want to explore all possibilities behind it. I've been researching a lot of the 19th century ballet stories. In the 1877 version, the main antagonist (though not on stage), was Odette's wicked stepmother who wants to destroy her stepdaughter, which focuses a similar conflict like in classic tales. Though, the part with Rothbart and Odile as acting people on stage, was not clarified enough (a reason for the change in Petipa's version). Usually, ballet stories were always clear with their characters' motivations and stories quite complex and long. Typical motivations in ballets were either revenge (e.g. Sacountala, La Sylphide) or rejected love (Eoline, La Bayadere), or very "Disney" fairy tale like stories with abducted princesses (e.g. Le papillon) so, by chance similar like in the Swan Princess movie (; But what about Von Rothbart and Odile? They are more than just "spirit servants", they have names, a profile, a relationship. And then...Odile is such a close name to Odette. Why should this be chosen? "Demon girls" would have rather fancy names,like Dragoniatza in Kalkabrino. Why oh why? I agree, there are "evil evil ones" in great modern story telling,like Voldemort in Harry Potter or Palpatine in the Star Wars series, but we have these agents, who happen to have a moral conflict with the heroes, like Snape and Darth Vader. And this is perhaps too much for a fairy tale, but if Swan Lake would be a simple fairy tale, then we would need a simple happy ending, without worrying anything about logic. That is just something I'm putting into discussion, as I think it isn't important itself for the ballet,as the moral conflict is between the hero and heroine, love and tested love, faith and disappointed faith, as typical for mostly romantic legends and operas. And I think this is and should stay the focus. Though, Swan Lake has got for me a huge potential for retellings from the sources, which hadn't been fleshed out, but could be very exciting.

[@felicity1877]

@@dh7164 I love Antigone also a lot (I also read it in Ancient Greek) and so you are telling me nothing new. But I still do not understand why you call this play a simple story. You even admit the purpose of complex characters and nothing else I'm also adcocating for Swan Lake. Creon is not an unidentified evil villian, but a complex character. Antigone isn't a damsel in distress, but a heroine with a point. This isn't Swan Lake on stage. Odette is reduced to the sad White Swan, but she could be more. I see what you mean with the inspiring utility of tragedy, as this is also important in a lot of operas by Tchaikovsky. ...So many intriguing thoughts on tragedy and triumph...

[@s02229]

Which company's production is this? BTW Odette is the Swan queen, not a princess

[@stefannydvorak7919]

Odette in human form is a princess. The other swans have made her their queen.

[@jupitersailing]

Oh my buggery, that sounds like a REAL VOICE!!! Thank you so much! This is a great explanation too.

[@gamelifeusa]

So basically The Swan Princess is almost exactly the same as the ballet but with more backstory.

[@shannong5074]

And the prince and the swan both die

[@deenagara9151]

Watched this last night and has a happy ending, the choreography for the ending is identical to the one with Svetlana Zakharova and Roberto Bolle.

[@litaskeeter]

This is the story of a guy who can't tell the difference between a white bird and a black bird.

[@joyyboii.555]

So it means odette and prince die together? Im shock now 😭

[@sophierowland7837]

I’m about to go see and I want to know what the heck’s going on so thank you this is very helpful!

[@Grace-vx7db]

Bless you I have to write a review over it and I was so lost .

[@marajadeford372]

A big issue with me is that the prince and the three princesses should all be in white (its a wedding after all). Other than that its a beautiful story. My favorite ballet.

[@stefannydvorak7919]

Fun fact: wearing white at weddings wasn’t really a thing until the 19th century. Usually, women would wear their prettiest dresses, no matter the colour, for their wedding day. Sometimes, noble women would wear white as it was luxurious fabric(white clothes were seen as a luxury, as they were incredibly hard to clean and mend).

[@marajadeford372]

@@stefannydvorak7919 yes, I did know this. Queen Victoria was the first one to wear a white wedding gown and the world followed. In almost every version I've seen of this ballet, the prince wears white as well as the potential brides. Plus it makes a striking contrast against Odile's all black.

[@sizdimitri]

Thank you!

[@minissa2009]

May I second the request? Plus names of the leads? The ballerina's line is exquisite. Also seconding the request for the meaning of "aqaurian" friend if that was the term used? The only thing I might tweak (and not an issue if this was a vid made specifically for this company) is that this is the only production I know of in which the king has just died (also "coutesans" dancing the pdt?). I think most companies just have Siggy celebrating his coming-of-age birthday. May I commend you for getting in the explanation of the mime in which Odette tells Siegfried not to kil VR or the spell can never be broken (alternatively, if he dies, she will die as well). My objection to the Bourmeister (and friends) "happy" ending is that they typically leave this in, then disregard it in the final scene by the lake. Sig kills VR and the swans are all freed. They could have saved a lot of time by having Sig kill VR in the white act. Very nicely done. It looks like a lovely production! Thx for posting!

[@alexmartinez3683]

Ay yo that’s actually a good story

[@fleepfloop0061]

His... aquarian friend Benno????!!?

[@ninaroux8791]

Sophia S hahaha also made me raise an eyebrow

[@calvinganza9448]

eqquery*

[@Torichan888]

Equarian friend. Horse riding buddy.

[@pratyushdeep891]

I watch a swan Lake movie in Barbie but it was really different from original story

[@ArmyofLove]

Thank you for explaining. I just saw it in the theater yesterday, I couldn't stay to the end. The jester is Aquarius I take it?

[@alyssahelaine4868]

What dance company ?

[@abhiroopreddy1948]

what does aquarian mean?

[@marissaortega1386]

It’s tragic!!! 😭😭😭😭

[@angelprincess12345]

But they just met

[@diostone6975]

Honkai star rail player here ✨

[@singer2be256]

Odette is a princess? Where is her kingdom?

[@Eskobear011]

the woods

[@GaZonk100]

an allegory of the fall of Man?

[@thewonderfulworldofderek6087]

Ballet shoes history years 2007 ended.

[@ivopopov6661]

This is basically romeo and juliette mixed with the little mermaid

[@y.r.9401]

So dramatic & tragic! IDL this ending. =(

[@Jeff12345]

I’m so confused

[@paranormallazivity9677]

So that's what i have been watching for 6hours while the dancers stretched their legs and flapped their hands!!

[@elliewillow4556]

Wait you mean to tell me that he sees her and says he loves her then at the dance magic was used to trick him. Then she forgives him and they fulfill a suicide pact. It took 4 hours !?!? 4 hours to say that !?!

[@erikaeero750]

u dld baiiet to many moons ago

[@wjun0131]

Wow the story is trash