A Swan lake at Den Norske Opera & Ballett

In A Swan Lake, choreographer Alexander Ekman looks at the epitome of all ballets, Swan Lake, with singularly new eyes – and fills the stage with water and swans never before seen by the world.

“I wanted to do something big and wild and different. Something involving water!” said the Swedish choreographer in 2014 and created a revolutionary Swan Lake. Now, you have the chance to experience it again.

In interplay with the dancers and a true opera diva, two actors give the first act a powerful stamp of humorous theatre. The story of how Swan Lake came to be is told, as it may have happened in the Bolsjoi Theatre in 1877.

The Main House is filled with 5,000 litres of water for the second act, and some very special swans: dancing in the water. The familiar drama between the white swan and the black swan takes place in these surroundings.

The complete Norwegian National Ballet is involved, in costumes designed by Danish designer Henrik Vibskov. The Norwegian National Opera Orchestra plays Mikael Karlsson’s music, with references to Tchaikovsky’s original work.

It wasn’t just the water that flowed when A Swan Lake had its premiere. Audiences flowed to the Oslo Opera House. It was fully booked, and TV and DVD versions of the Norwegian National Ballet’s swans were shown during fashion weeks in both Paris and Copenhagen.

Dance Europe, a magazine for European dance, crowned it as the “Best world premiere”, and in Norway Aftenposten wrote: “Wild, wet and wonderful”, and claimed that it moved the boundaries for what is possible in theatre. Alexander Ekman is an international name in the world of dance, known and sought-after for his unique ability to unite ballet with humour and playfulness.