Tag: swan lake

50 Thoughts I Had Rewatching "Barbie of Swan Lake" As An Adult

Move over, Black Swan. The original Swan Lake movie adaptation is still the best. That’s right, I’m talking about Barbie of Swan Lake. Being six years old and a baby bunhead at the time of this movie’s direct to home video (yes, as in VHS tape) release, I was exactly the target demographic for this […]

Please Enjoy the Quarantine Genius of “Swan Lake Bath Ballet”

That old saying about limitations breeding creativity—hat tip to Orson Welles—has never felt more relevant than in these lockdown days. Here’s the latest brilliant dance project born (hatched?) of quarantine restrictions: “Swan Lake Bath Ballet,” a contemporary take on the classic featuring 27 A-list ballet dancers performing from their own bathtubs. The BBC commissioned the […]

Read Misty Copeland's Amazing Response to Her "Swan Lake" Critics

In case you haven’t heard (but you have): American Ballet Theatre principal Misty Copeland is one of most famous, and most respected, ballerinas in the world. She’s also one of the only black women currently performing Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, which means her (inevitably sold-out) performances of the role come with an extra degree of […]

The Secrets of New York City Ballet's Pointe Shoe Room

Deep in the basement of Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater is a small, windowless space that’s home to nearly 6,000 pairs of pointe shoes, neatly stacked on shelves that reach to the ceiling. It’s New York City Ballet’s shoe room, and for company members, it’s one of the most important places in the world. […]

Ballet Music Kinda Just Won Olympic Figure Skating

Once upon a time (until the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi concluded, to be exact), figure skaters had to compete to music without words. Before this rule change, a skater faced an automatic point deduction if the music even hinted at vocals. Understandably, there were *a lot* of Olympic programs skated to classical music, and […]

How Three Odette/Odiles Handle Those 32 Fouettés

Pretty much every ballet student struggles with fouettés, those fiendishly difficult turns that require both crazy strength and laser-sharp precision. But even the pros, who can make 32 of ’em look effortless, still get a bit of fouetté fear—especially when they’re fouetté-ing at the end of Swan Lake‘s Black Swan pas de deux, one of […]

Calling All Bunheads! Pacific Northwest Ballet Is Live-Streaming "Swan Lake"

Mark your calendars, bunheads! On Monday, January 29th, at 2:45 PM (EST)/11:45 AM (PST), Pacific Northwest Ballet will be streaming a live rehearsal of Act II of Kent Stowell’s Swan Lake. There are few things cooler than getting a front-row seat to a major ballet company’s rehearsal, especially when swans, Prince Siegfried, and Tchaikovsky’s lush […]

What Really Goes Into the Making of a Tutu

Few things are as magical as a new tutu. But what goes into the creation of this iconic ballet costume? We followed a National Ballet of Canada Swan Lake tutu—made for first soloist Emma Hawes’debut as Odette/Odile—from sketch to stage. Photo by Victoria Schwarzi, courtesy National Ballet of Canada Designer Santo Loquasto’s sketch for Odette’s […]