Beginning of a Legend

            Swan Lake did not really become successful until after Tchaikovsky’s death. In 1894 a memorial concert was organized and the second act was performed. Marius Petipa was ill at the time this piece was choreographed, so it fell on the shoulders of his assistant ballet master, Lev Ivanov. Ivanov showed a masterful ability to choreograph movement with of expression in dance while still keeping the steps connected and expressive of the music. This production was a very large success and inspired Petipa to recreate the entire ballet. Petipa and Tchaikovsky had collaborated previously on works such as The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty and were rumored to have discussed a revival of Swan Lake, and Petipa used this to bring a sense of legitimacy to his revival (Samachson 94).

Pavel Gerdt as Prince Siegfried in Petipa
and Ivanov's production of Swan Lake.

            Besides rechoreographing the ballet, the plot and order of the musical numbers were rearranged as well; although Petipa left Ivanov’s second act alone (Samachson 94).  Some changes were made for more technical reasons, and not artistic ones. Pavel Gerdt played the prince in the full length production that is now well known for his dancing and teaching. He had some very famous pupils including Balanchine, Pavlova and Fokine. Gerdt trained at the Imperial Ballet School in Russia, and had a very long career because he learned to pantomime and act extremely well. He was also one of the first dancers to play Prince Charming in Cinderella and Prince Deserè in Sleeping Beauty.  He was a very famous ballet dancer and received this part to bring prestige to the production, but he was past his prime as a dancer. He was fifty years old when he played the part of Siegfried in Swan Lake although he kept his age a secret from the theatre, insisting that he was only twenty three (Find a Grave). There was concern that he would be unable to execute the lifts properly, and that if he did he would injure himself or the ballerina he was lifting, so Ivanov adjusted the pas de deux. He had Benno (the prince’s friend) dance it with Siegfried and Odette and help with the lifts (Samachson 95). Although this change was made originally to accommodate this specific dancer, some productions throughout the years have kept Benno in the pas de deux. Most productions put on now have returned to the classical idea of only having two dancers in the pas de deux.

Pierrina Legnani as Odette
in Petipa and Ivonav's production
of Swan Lake.

            The parts of Odette and Odile were performed by Pierrina Legnani, both in the version of Ivanov’s second act and the full length version. Legnani was an Italian ballerina who helped innovative the technique of her time. She toured Europe and was the first ballerina to perform thirty two fouettés (which she first did in London). The Imperial Ballet gave Legnani the title “prima ballerina assoluta” which was awarded to only one other dancer (Encyclopedia Britannica). She was extremely influential in creating the choreography for the parts of Odette and Odile in this ballet. On the premiere of Petipa and Ivanov’s Swan Lake, she decided to perform thirty-two fouetté turns during one of her solos. This was still an enormously uncommon feat, and set a precedent for nearly every ballet afterwards (Samachson 96). 

1.      Dorothy and Joseph Samachson. The Russian Ballet and Three of Its Masterpieces. New York: Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Company, 1971.

1.          “Pavel Gerlt,” Find a Grave. Last modified January 15, 2008. Accessed April 15, 2014, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=23969535

1.      “Pierina Legnani” Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed April 15, 2014, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/335124/Pierina-Legnani

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