Angelin Preljocaj
The season comes to a close with Angelin Preljocaj’s Le lac des cygnes, the French choreographer’s 2020 reworking of the classical ballet. Retaining most of Tchaikovsky’s score, Preljocaj has reset the Swan Lake fairytale in modern day, relocated to a hard, shiny world where a property developer is encroaching on the natural habitat of the swans. Against designer Boris Labbé’s dystopian video backdrop, the darkness of a high society dressed in dinner jackets and black dresses contrasts with the expanded scenes of fluttering white swans. Preljocaj has reimagined much of Petipa’s and Ivanov’s choreography, stamping the production for 26 dancers with the contemporary style he has honed over some 50 creations for his own Aix-en-Provence based Ballet Preljocaj.
