By Rain Francis.
How well do you know the ballet classic?
1. Who composed the original score for Swan Lake?
a) Prokofiev
b) Mozart
c) Stravinsky
d) Tchaikovsky
2. Who choreographed the original production of Swan Lake, which premiered in 1877, one year after the composer’s death?
a) Marius Petipa
b) George Balanchine
c) Michel Fokine
d) Julius Reisinger
3. The black swan’s name is?
a) Odette
b) Odile
c) Ophelia
d) Octavia
4. Name this character from Swan Lake:
a) Siegfried
b) Carabosse
c) Von Rothbart
d) Dr. Coppelius
5. Matthew Bourne’s version of Swan Lake is well known particularly because:
a) The corps de ballet consists of black swans, not white swans
b) The swans are danced by men instead of women
c) It does not use any of the original score
d) All of the above
6. As part of their 2012 season, The Australian Ballet presented Swan Lake at New York’s Lincoln Center. Who is the choreographer of this version?
a. Stephen Baynes
b. Graeme Murphy
c. Twyla Tharp
d. Christopher Wheeldon
7. In the 2011 film Black Swan, which dance company was used as the corps de ballet?
a) New York City Ballet
b) Miami City Ballet
c) Pennsylvania Ballet
d) Mariinsky Ballet
8. Who danced the roles of Odette/Odile in the premiere of Petipa/Ivanov’s Swan Lake?
a) Pierina Legnani
b) Olga Nikolayeva
c) Anna Pavlova
d) Tamara Karsavina
9. How many dancers traditionally perform the dance of the Cygnets?
a) two
c) three
c) four
d) six
10. True or false: Swan Lake was the first ballet to be staged by Mikhail Mordkin, the first Artistic Director of what is now known as American Ballet Theatre?
Answers: 1 – d, 2 – d, 3 – b, 4 – c, 5 – b, 6 – a, 7 – c, 8 – a, 9 – c, 10 – True
Top photo: Adam Bull & Amber Scott in The Australian Ballet’s Swan Lake. Photography Jim McFarlane.
Character photo: Christopher Saunders as Von Rothbart. Copyright John Ross. Photo source: www.ballet.co.uk/gallery/jr-royal-ballet-swan-lake-roh-1008/jr_swan_saunders_onsteps_067_500
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