Frederic Franklin
Swan Lake performance featuring Agnes Letestu, Jose Martinez, Karl Paquette, and Muriel Halle The story is adapted from an old Russian folk tale. Princess Odette (Gillian Murphy) is captured by the evil sorcerer Rathbart (Isaac Stappas) and cursed to be changed into a swan. Young Prince Siegfried (Angel Corolla) is being pressured by his mother (Georgina Parkinson) to find a bride. Irritated, he runs out into the woods and finds Swan Lake, where Odette has become queen of the swans. He learns that only by someone swearing eternal love to her can the spell be broken, and he does so. At a ball, numerous princesses are paraded before the prince, who shows little interest. But when Rathbart, in human form (Marcelo Gomes), arrives with his daughter Odile (Murphy), enchanted to resemble Odette, Siegfried is deceived. Swearing love to Odile, and betraying Odette, he may have condemned her to spend the rest of her life as a swan.
For many, modern ballet began with the Ballet Russe of Monte Carlo, originally made up of Russian exiles from the Russian Revolution. This film tells the story of this landmark company with its stars and production as well as its power games, rivalries and tribulations that marked its turbulent history.
The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo perform a ballet to Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol.
In a Paris nightclub setting, the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo performs to the music of Jacques Offenbach.
