Swan Lake is a ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, first staged at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow in February 1877 in the Russian calendar then in use. It tells of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by the sorcerer Rothbart, and of Prince Siegfried, who falls in love with her but is deceived by Rothbart's daughter Odile. The first production, with choreography by Julius Reisinger, was not a success, because the dancing and staging were weak, and the music was thought too complex. After Tchaikovsky's death in 1893 the work was revived at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg in 1895 with new choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. That version became the basis of most later productions, and Swan Lake is among the most famous ballets in the world.
Before and after
- 1877Publication of Anna Karenina
- from 1877 to 1892Bone Wars
- 1877Launch of The Washington Post
- 1877Founding of Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
- 20 February 1877Premiere of Swan Lake
- from 15 March 1877 to 19 March 1877The first Test match in cricket
- 12 April 1877Founding of University of Tokyo
- from 24 April 1877 to 3 March 1878Tenth Russo-Turkish War
- from 24 April 1877 to 3 March 1878Romanian War of Independence
More in Art, literature & culture
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- 7 April 1837Publication of The Little Mermaid
- 21 February 1848Publication of The Communist Manifesto
- 18 September 1851Founding of The New York Times
- 1857Rise of Symbolism
- 28 December 1895The Lumiere brothers hold the first public film screening
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.