Swan Lake Ballet Performance to Enchant Audiences in Budapest

The world-renowned French choreographer Angelin Preljocaj and his company are set to captivate audiences with their mesmerizing performance of Swan Lake at the Margaret Island Open-Air Stage in Budapest. Known as a defining figure in contemporary French dance, Preljocaj’s interpretation of the classic ballet is poetic, imaginative, and visually stunning, filled with references to the original while offering a fresh perspective on familiar scenes and characters.

Preljocaj pays homage to his predecessors, drawing inspiration from both neoclassicism and electropop music. With his signature finesse, the choreographer breathes life into every movement and scene of the ballet. He maintains Petipa’s original framework while reinventing Swan Lake from within, creating a reflection of our modern world.

The performance features dancers with exceptional movement skills, visual effects, and a interplay of lights, promising an immensely enjoyable Swan Lake experience for the audience. Preljocaj combines Tchaikovsky’s musical masterpiece with contemporary elements, using Swan Lake as the musical foundation of the score, complemented by excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s violin concertos, overtures, and symphonies. The voluptuous Tchaikovsky score meets the contemporary electropop music of 79D, accompanying a creation in which the choreographer finds a natural expression of movement, according to the Margaret Island Theatre website.

After his successful productions of Snow White and Romeo and Juliet, Preljocaj returns to story ballet with a passion for storytelling. He takes possession of the myth of the swan-dancer, a work he began in 2018 with Ghost, where he paid tribute to Marius Petipa by projecting himself into the choreographer’s imagination at the moment the idea for Swan Lake occurred to him.

Critics have praised Preljocaj’s brilliant reinterpretation of Swan Lake’s greatest moments, with his elegant and colorful writing complemented by Éric Soyer’s dreamy lighting and Boris Labbé’s palingenesis scenography. The dancers perform en pointe barefooted, laying their arms on their shoulders like swans folding their wings or flocking together when frightened, forming colonies of dead water lilies on the stage.

This enchanting performance of Swan Lake by Angelin Preljocaj and his company promises to be a highlight of the dance season in Budapest, captivating audiences with its innovative choreography, stunning visuals, and the seamless blend of classical and contemporary elements.

Image source: https://margitszigetiszinhaz.hu/