Swan Lake Dance of the cygnets (The Royal Ballet)

Meaghan Grace Hinkis, Isabella Gasparini, Romany Pajdak and Elizabeth Harrod dance as cygnets in Liam Scarlett's production of Swan Lake which will be broadcast on Christmas Day 2018 on BBC Four. Find out more at Swan Lake was Tchaikovsky’s first score for ballet. Given its status today as arguably the best loved and most admired of all classical ballets, it is perhaps surprising that at its premiere in 1877 Swan Lake was poorly received. It is thanks to the 1895 production by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov that Swan Lake has become part of not only ballet consciousness but also wider popular culture. That success is secured not only by the sublime, symphonic sweep of Tchaikovsky’s score, but also by the striking choreographic contrasts between Petipa’s royal palace scenes and the lyric lakeside scenes created by Ivanov. Swan Lake has had a special role in the repertory of The Royal Ballet