One of the most famous ballets Swan Lake to the music of the outstanding Tchaikovsky was presented at the Astana Opera. The Kazakh version of the famous performance was created according to all world standards. This is the first project, where the scenery, costumes and choreography are completely domestic. According to Kazakh directors, the legendary ballet has thousands variations across the world. They were looking for their own, but they did not want to completely change the ballet, which is more than 130 years old.

The version of Swan Lake directed by Kazakh choreographers featured a happy ending, which is unusual as the customary final is always tragic. In the Kazakh version, evil is powerless when the power of love overcomes, unlike the original, where the lake absorbs the main characters.

TURSYNBEK NURKALIEV, CHOREOGRAPHER:

We wanted to make the version that satisfied our spectators, ballet admirers, because when it ends beautifully, when love wins, there is no need for unnecessary words.

The main roles in the ballet were performed by the leading soloists of the Astana Opera Theater. Madina Basbayeva dances two swans at once in the ballet: black and white. According to her, simultaneous transformation into diametrically opposite characters of good and evil was more difficult than the technical side of the ballet.

MADINA BASBAYEVA, BALLET DANCER:

My character of the white swan is very tender. Its technique is more different. There is the purest classic. It is bewitched and expresses all its sorrow. But the black swan, of course is more cunning. Its character has to be played more dramatically. It is closer to me in image, and it’s easier for me to perform the black swan rather than a white one.

The ballet features magnificent costumes as well. Kazakh fashion designers prepared them for the performance under the strict guidance of the Italian masters. Scenery for the ballet is made using the most modern technologies - in seconds the massive structures disappear and reappear on the stage. In addition, the classical ballet about magic and love in rendition of the Kazakh choreographers had a new and unusual approach. For the first time the scenographers used 3D effects, creating the feeling that the Swan lake will pour in torrents right into the audience hall. All this makes the Kazakh production unique and original, which, by the way, is already appreciated by domestic theatergoers.