Swan Lake at Den Norske Opera & Ballett

Swan Lake is to ballet what Hamlet is to theatre: an audience favourite, but also perhaps a dancer’s greatest challenge. The work is veiled in myths amongst audiences and dancers alike. The double role as the good swan princess Odette and the evil sorcerer’s daughter Odile is considered the most demanding for a ballet dancer to perform. And not without good reason. The role requires mastery of two diametrically opposed characters, both physically and psychologically, and seamless interchange between the white and the black swan, the lyrical and the virtuous, the pure, translucent good in Odette – and the demonic in Odile.

The double role as the black swan and the white swan has been danced by some of the greatest names in classical ballet. This spring, the Norwegian National Ballet’s Yolanda Correa, Maiko Nishino, Clair Constant and Julie Gardette perform the role and show us why Swan Lake continues to be called the ballet of ballets.