A plethora of Swan Lake debuts at the Royal Opera House
The Royal Ballet‘s 2018 production of Swan Lake returns to The Royal Opera House stage in March and May for 24 performances and with a live cinema relay on 19 May.
The opening night on 1 March will be led by two dancers who are no strangers to the roles of Odette/Odile and Prince Siegfried: Marianela Nuñez and Vadim Muntagirov. However, over the following weeks there will be an astonishing number of debuts in the lead roles. Francesca Hayward, Fumi Kaneko, Mayara Magri, Anna Rose O’Sullivan and Claire Calvert, as well as Marcelino Sambé, Cesar Corrales and Nicol Edmonds are all dancing the complete roles for the first time. Also, Lauren Cuthbertson and Steven McRae will be making their debuts in this production.
The Royal Ballet was performing this production of Swan Lake in 2020 when the run was cut short due to the pandemic.
The Royal Ballet says,
The reimagining of Petipa and Ivanov’s towering masterpiece by Liam Scarlett is testament to the late choreographer’s abiding love of classicism and innate musicality which shine through the production. With a sublime score by Tchaikovsky and glittering designs by John Macfarlane, the production is one of the best-loved works of the 19th-century classical ballet canon.
The 19 May cinema relay will see principal dancer Lauren Cuthbertson and first soloist William Bracewell in the leading roles. Encore screenings will follow from 22 May.
Performances of Swan Lake are from 1 – 25 March and 2 – 28 May 2022.
Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Carla Fracci.
Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.
He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.
Has Steven McRae recovered enough to dance Siegfried? I’ve lost track of his rehab.
He’s in fighting form! He returned to the stage as Romeo last October.