From National and Universal to Monte Carlo... "Swan Lake" Performances Line Up at Seoul Arts Center

National Ballet of Korea to Perform in April,
Universal Ballet in August
Monte Carlo Ballet Returns After Three Years
to Present "Swan Lake" for the First Time in Korea

This year, a series of performances of the classical ballet masterpiece "Swan Lake" will be held at the Opera Theater of the Seoul Arts Center.

Both the National Ballet of Korea and Universal Ballet, two leading ballet companies in Korea, will stage "Swan Lake" this year. Additionally, the Monte Carlo Ballet Company from Monaco will visit Korea for the first time in three years to present Artistic Director Jean-Christophe Maillot's modern reinterpretation of "Swan Lake" to Korean audiences for the first time. The National Ballet of Korea and Universal Ballet will perform in April and August, respectively, while the Monte Carlo Ballet Company is scheduled to perform in May.

"Swan Lake," which tells the love story of Princess Odette-who lives as a swan by day and a human by night due to the curse of the evil Rothbart-and Prince Siegfried, whom she meets by fate, is considered a representative work of classical ballet. The music was composed by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. It premiered in 1877 at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. However, the premiere was a failure, and it was only after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov revised the choreography for a production at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg in 1895, after Tchaikovsky's death, that the work achieved success and became a staple of the ballet repertoire. Since then, numerous choreographers have made their own modifications, and "Swan Lake" is performed worldwide every year.

National Ballet Company's "Swan Lake"
[Photo by National Ballet Company]

Universal Ballet's "Swan Lake" [Photo courtesy of Universal Ballet, (c) Lyeowon Kim]

The National Ballet of Korea has been performing a re-choreographed version by Yuri Grigorovich, the late former artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet, since 2001. Universal Ballet has been presenting a version re-choreographed by Oleg Vinogradov, the former artistic director of the Mariinsky Ballet, since 1992.

The endings also differ. In the National Ballet of Korea's "Swan Lake," Odette forgives Siegfried, Rothbart's power weakens, and the two protagonists have a happy ending. However, in Universal Ballet's production, although Odette helps Siegfried defeat Rothbart, Odette also dies, resulting in a tragic ending.

In the Monte Carlo Ballet Company's "Swan Lake," the Queen, rather than Princess Odette, is the main character. The Queen is depicted as exerting strong control over the Prince, who is portrayed as a character suffering as a result.

This is the fourth visit to Korea by the Monte Carlo Ballet Company. The company first visited in 2005 with a performance of "Cinderella," followed by a reprise of "Cinderella" in 2019, and "Romeo and Juliet" in 2023. Jean-Christophe Maillot has served as artistic director since 1993. He was awarded the Legion of Honour by the French government in 2002 and received the Benois de la Danse award for best choreography-considered the Nobel Prize of ballet-for "Faust" in 2008.

Monte Carlo Ballet Company 'Swan Lake' [Photo provided by Labora Arts Planning/Young & Eepsom, (c) Alice Blangero]

Ahn Jaeyong, who became the first Korean to join the Monte Carlo Ballet Company in 2016, is also expected to appear in this production of "Swan Lake." Earning the full trust of Director Maillot, Ahn was promoted to principal dancer in 2019, just three years after joining the company. He played the role of the father in "Cinderella" in 2019 and portrayed Tybalt in "Romeo and Juliet" in 2023.

In addition to "Swan Lake," the National Ballet of Korea will restage "The Lady of the Camellias," which received an enthusiastic response from audiences during its Korean premiere last year, in November. In October, the company will also present "Giselle," a quintessential romantic ballet.

Universal Ballet will present the original ballet "Shim Chung," celebrating its 40th anniversary, in April, and will stage "The Sleeping Beauty" in October for the first time in four years. With the year-end performance of "The Nutcracker," Universal Ballet will present all three of Tchaikovsky's major ballets this year.