Orlando Ballet will open its 2025-26 season with the classical ballet blockbuster Swan Lake. Get ready to see the company at the peak of its creative power and to be dazzled by stagecraft that will include the ethereal spectacle of swan flocks floating across the stage.
“Next to The Nutcracker, Swan Lake is the most recognizable ballet in the canon,” says guest choreographer Christopher Stowell, artistic director of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in Canada. But he notes the production is not to be undertaken lightly.
First, Stowell says, a company must be fully prepared for the technical mastery required by Swan Lake because “all the dancers, not just the leads, will have rigorous work.” Jorden Morris, in his four years as artistic director of Orlando Ballet, has built such a company, he adds.
Second, the ballet, which premiered in 1877 with its now well-known score by Tchaikovsky, must speak to modern (and less patient) audiences. Consequently, Stowell will, for the first time, stage the dance in two acts rather than the traditional four. “The drive of the story is continuous,” he says. “We’re always moving through the drama.”
The production required careful collaboration with the artistic director, the music director and even the production department. The swans are going to have to make some fast costume changes.
The key to updating a famous ballet, Stowell says, is to maintain the core sets expected by the audience. He will leave untouched, for example, the dance of the four swan maidens in unison, the dance of the black swan, Odile (with 32 fouettés or rapid, repeated spins), and the pas de deux between the cursed lovers, Prince Siegfried and Odette.
“You keep what is essential and choreograph the rest to match the style,” Stowell says.
