Swan Lake

Friday, October 21st at 8 p.m.

Saturday, October 22nd at 7 p.m.

Sponsored in part by Roe Green & The Roe Green Foundation

Cleveland Ballet is honored to receive an official proclamation from Mayor Justin M. Bibb, designating Lake Erie as Swan Lake for the weekend of October 21st in accordance with our premiere of Swan Lake.

See the official proclamation here.

Swan Lake is the love story of Prince Siegfried who, on a hunting trip, encounters a flock of swans. He falls in love with the Swan Queen, Odette, and swears his allegiance and undying love to her. As a result of a curse by the evil sorcerer Baron von Rothbart, Odette can only take human form between midnight and daybreak. Odette yearns to be freed from her curse while Von Rothbart and his devious daughter Odile vow to curse her forever. Will Siegfried and Odette be able to overcome the evil working against them or will they fall into the evil sorcerer's trap?

With brand-new choreography from Artistic Director Gladisa Guadalupe and a surprising twist to Tchaikovsky's magical ballet, the story of Swan Lake is the perfect start to an incredible new season!

PRINCIPAL CASTING

ZACHARY CATAZARO

Prince Siegfried

ANA SOPHIA SCHELLER

Odette & Odile

NAREK MARTIROSYAN

Baron Von Rothbart

ANA SOPHIA SCHELLER

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Ana Sophia Scheller began dancing at the age of six. At nine, she started taking ballet classes with Katty Gallo (former soloist at the Teatro Colón) and Raul Candal (former principal dancer at the Teatro Colón). Ms. Scheller was admitted to the Instituto Superior de Arte Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires at the age of ten.

At thirteen, she received a scholarship as part of Argentina's National Presidential Prize for Cultural Excellence in Classical Dance for three consecutive years before moving to New York. In 2000, she enrolled as a full-time student at the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet. At SAB, Ms. Scheller performed at the 2002 and 2003 Workshop Performances dancing the principal role in Ballo della Regina, George Balanchine's Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet Third Movement and Aurora in the Wedding Pas de Deux from Peter Martins' Sleeping Beauty.

In August of 2003, Ms. Scheller joined American Ballet Theatre Studio Company where she performed featured roles in William Forsythe's Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude and George Balanchine's Symphony in C and Tarantella.

In April of 2004, she joined New York City Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet before being promoted to soloist in December of 2006. In May of 2012, Ms. Scheller was promoted to principal dancer with New York City Ballet.

At the age of eighteen, she partnered with Julio Bocca as a principal guest in his farewell world tour in Uruguay, Paraguay, Venezuela and Madrid, Spain.

In 2012, she guested with the Teatro Massimo Vittorio Emanuele in Palermo for their production of Cinderella as the title character under the direction of Luciano Canito.

She has also been a guest artist for many galas around the world including the Nureyev Ballet Festival, Gala International del Teatro Colón, Gala de Ballet de Buenos Aires, Beijing International Ballet and many more.

In July of 2017, she joined San Francisco Ballet as a principal dancer under the artistic direction of Helgi Tomasson.

In September of 2019, Ms. Scheller joined the National Ballet of Ukraine as a principal dancer. There, she has performed Swan Lake as Odette and Odile, Sleeping Beauty as Aurora, as well as La Sylphide as The Sylph and Ricardo Amarante's Touch of Illusion.

CREDITS

CHOREOGRAPHY & STAGING

Gladisa Guadalupe & Cleveland Ballet Staff after Marius Petipa

ARTISTIC COACHING

Valentina Kozlova

MUSIC

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

SET DESIGN

Jeff McLaughlin

LIGHTING DESIGN

Dennis Dugan

COSTUME

Cleveland Ballet Costume Shop

SYNOPSIS

Prologue

Princess Odette, walking by the beautiful lakeside, encounters the evil sorcerer Von Rothbart. In hopes of escaping his evil powers, Odette runs but is not quick enough to escape the sorcerer. She is transformed into a beautiful swan, effectively changing the course of her life forever.

Scene I - The Palace

Celebrating his twenty-first birthday and coming of age, Prince Siegfried is surrounded by the courtiers, peasants, and subjects. Many toasts are made to celebrate the young prince and a pas de trois is performed. The Queen Mother arrives to give her son his gift: a beautiful crossbow. With the gift comes with the announcement that Prince Siegfried must marry - and must choose from one of his mother's choices of princesses.

Siegfried is disappointed and distraught with the thought of having to choose a bride with whom he is not in love. As the party disperses, Siegfried is distracted by a flock of swans overhead and decides to head out into the night with his new crossbow.

Scene II - The Lakeside

Siegfried finds the flock of swans at the lakeside; beginning to point his crossbow at them, one of the swans transforms into a woman. It is Odette, Queen of the Swans. The Prince is enamored with the sweet Queen and attempts to approach her. Odette, becoming frightened, turns away from him. Siegfried assures the frightened woman that he means no harm and she reveals the horrible spell she and her companions are under. By day, they are condemned to live as swans and only by dusk can they regain their human forms. The spell can be broken only by a man vowing his undying love. Siegfried, overcome with love, declares his devotion to Odette. No sooner has his declaration been etched in Odette's mind does Von Rothbart appear. The prince raises his crossbow to aim but Von Rothbart is protected by the Swan Queen, for if Von Rothbart were to die, the spell could never be broken. The sorcerer flees and Odette, overcome with emotion, runs away but is followed by the prince.

The swan maidens appear and dance their beloved waltz before Siegfried reappears, looking intently for Odette. The queen returns and they express their love for one another in a beautiful adagio pas de deux.

The pale sunlight signifying dawn begins to creep over the horizon, signaling the end of Odette's human form. The pair bid farewell with Odette once again returning to her enchanted form.

SEATING CHARTS

Please note that these charts are for informational purposes only. These do not reflect seat availability in Connor Palace, please visit Playhouse Square's website for the most up to date seating availability.