Swan Lake’s most iconic act
The evening begins beautifully with the second act of Swan Lake, set to Tchaikovsky’s extraordinary music. The second act is the Swan Act itself—the most iconic part of the ballet of all. The version you’ll see was created by Anna-Marie Holmes based on Petipa and Ivanov’s original choreography from 1895. Here, the beauty of classical ballet is expressed in its purest, most timeless form.
Pyotr Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake, Act II (1875–76)
Choreography: Anna-Marie Holmes, based on Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov
Set design: Peter Farmer
Lighting design: Paul Vidar Sævarang
Intense Ravel
Samantha Lynch is a soloist with the Norwegian National Ballet—and also a sought-after choreographer. In recent years, several of the world’s leading ballet companies have commissioned works from her. For this tour, we’re presenting her first work created for the Opera’s main stage: *A Boléro*, set to Ravel’s famous 1928 piece, in which the same musical motif is repeated over and over—growing more intense and powerful with each repetition. Audiences and critics alike loved *A Boléro* after its premiere in 2021. This is what contemporary ballet can look like!
Maurice Ravel: Boléro (1928)
Choreography and Set Design: Samantha Lynch
Costume Design: Bregje van Balen
Lighting Design: Paul Vidar Sævarang
Sparkling on Tiptoes
Can you create a ballet about jewels? Master choreographer George Balanchine did just that in the three-part ballet *Jewels*. Now the Norwegian National Ballet is performing the final part, Diamonds, in which the movements, colors, and musical choices are inspired by diamonds. Balanchine believed that movement and music are two sides of the same coin. Much of the performance is set to Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 3 in D major.
Pyotr Tchaikovsky: Diamonds from *Jewels* (1967)
Pyotr Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 3 in D major, Op. 29, *The Polish* ( 1875)
Choreography: George Balanchine
Set design: Jean-Marc Puissant
Costume design: Karinska
Lighting design: Jennifer Tipton
