Pennsylvania Ballet Presents Christopher Wheeldon’s Swan Lake

Pennsylvania Ballet Principal Dancers Lauren Fadeley and Zachary Hench in Christopher Wheeldon’s Swan Lake
Photo: Alexander Iziliaev

Pennsylvania Ballet brings the world’s most renowned ballet, Swan Lake, to the Academy of Music stage, March 5-8 and 14-15, presented by Bank of America. In addition, Zachary Hench, Principal Dancer, will also celebrate his formal retirement from Pennsylvania Ballet at the afternoon performance on March 8^th.

“Aside from being the best-known ballet story, Swan Lake is also paired with one of Tchaikovsky’s most well-known and beloved musical pieces,” said Artistic Director Angel Corella. “Everyone can relate to this ballet whether it is through the eyes of the White Swan, the Black Swan, the Prince or the Mother, as the story portrays life; from falling in love, to what a relationship is and even betrayal.”

Swan Lake tells the story of a young prince, Siegfried, and his love for the Swan Queen, Odette. Transformed into a swan by an evil sorcerer, Odette is destined to remain a swan unless she is rescued by true love. The dazzling choreography and visual complexities illuminate ballet’s greatest love story.

This production of Swan Lake, by world-renowned choreographer and soon to be Broadway Director, Christopher Wheeldon, is based on the original Lev Ivanov and Marius Petipa classic from 1895 and set to the timeless Tchaikovsky score, but has been re-imagined for today’s audiences. Wheeldon compares this creative process to “resetting an old diamond heirloom into a contemporary setting.” The production features spectacular sets and costumes set in the 19th-century milieu of the Paris Opera Ballet of Edgar Degas.

Premiered in 2004 to national acclaim, Christopher Wheeldon’s stellar production of Swan Lake was commissioned and performed to sold-out audiences for Pennsylvania Ballet’s 40^th anniversary season. This success led to an invitation to present the ballet at the prestigious Edinburgh International Festival in 2005, where Pennsylvania Ballet made its international debut.

The performances at the Academy of Music run:

• Thursday, March 5 at 7:30pm
• Friday, March 6 at 7:30pm
• Saturday, March 7 at 2:00pm
• Saturday, March 7 at 8:00pm (Bonus performance)
• Sunday, March 8 at 2:00pm
• Saturday, March 14 at 2:00pm
• Saturday, March 14 at 8:00pm
• Sunday, March 15 at 2:00pm

Tickets are available online at paballet.org or by phone at 215.893.1999, and in person at the Kimmel Center Box Office.

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Steven Weisz

Founder & Editor at The Dance Journal

While not a dancer himself, Weisz’s love for the arts and dance started as a child growing up in New York City. With parents, who were strong supporters of the arts and part of a community with an incredible array of notable artists in music, dance, theater, and fine arts, Weisz’s access and affinity for the performing arts took root. Upon attending college in Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania in the mid-’70s, Weisz started performing as a puppeteer, magician, juggler, and fire eater as a means of supplementing his income. This soon grew into what became Rainbow Promotions Inc., one of the largest entertainment and special events producers in the region. It was here that he began to promote and book dance for major events throughout the city. Many of the dancers he worked within the early days of his company are now major choreographers in Philadelphia. At the same time, Weisz’s interest in computers and the early developments of what is now known as the Internet led him to also start another company, Delaware Valley On Line, which became one of the first regional ISPs. It was this combination of event production, internet development, and event marketing that led him to examine the use of the internet as a means to promote the arts. Dance continued to be a major interest for Weisz and in 2005 he founded PhiladelphiaDANCE.org as a major online resource to promote dance in the city. It was soon after that the Dance Journal was also founded as a way to provide an outlet for writing on a range of topics that encompass the ever-growing and emerging dance community in the region. Weisz continues to run both the non-profit PhiladelphiaDANCE and The Dance Journal on purely a voluntary basis with no income derived from any of his projects. He is also the Director of Graffito Works, an international platform for dancers and performing artists in Europe that creates site specific. More recently, Weisz has expanded his creative endeavors into the realm of photography through the establishment of ArtImagined.photo.

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