Royal Ballet in Singapore

Alina Cojocaru



Roberta Marquez



Marianela Nuñez



Tamara Rojo

Above are the four ballerinas from Royal Ballet who will be coming down to perform Swan Lake in Singapore from the 24th June 2005 to 28th June 2005.

Royal Ballet's coming down to Singapore to perform Swan Lake in two week's time. Till now, I can only get the circle seat for Alina Cojocaru's show on 24th June. Arg, I could have paid up to S$200 for the stall seats for all four shows, but to think that the tickets have been almost sold out half a year before the concert. I'm so disappointed!! The most famous ballet troupe, performing the most famous ballet in history in the traditional choreography (in my opinion is the best) by Lev Ivanov. Just thinking of this just makes me feel like stabbing myself for not booking the tickets early. But at least I got the tickets for the performance with Alina Cojocaru as the principal ballerina. Watched the DVD of her performing The Nutcracker and that blew me off. Her looks are average and build is small, yet when she danced her role, the stage was just set ablaze and her presence caught the immediate attention of the audience. To think that months after watching her on DVD, this lovely girl is scheduled to come down to Singapore to perform the ballet Swan Lake. Phew, was so worried that I wouldn't be able to go for this show. Thank God... =)

Looking forward to her dancing the roles of Odile/Odette. Will she be able to bring out the roles well? Odile is the Swan Princess and the very reason why this ballet remains one of the most famous ones in history is that even though the plot seems so fictional, everyone could connect with the role of Odile. Even a ballet with a more practical plot like Giselle or Coppelia doesn't even come close. The heroines of these other classics all have some relation to the real world, being peasant girls or princesses. Strange things happen to them, yet they live within determined conventions. However, the heroine of Swan Lake has another story. She is a princess of the night; she is all magic, a creature of the imagination. Being under the spell of the mysterious sorcerer, Von Rotbart, she is immediately pathetic, a creature whose initial fear and consuming love interest us immediately. The dignity and courage and authority she possesses as the Queen of the Swans become, in the ballet, the dignity of the woman in love. Even in this magical world she inhibits, she is never, at any point, unreal or absurb to us, because we see that love doesn't shatter her dignity; rather, it ennobles us her beauty and explains her universal appeal. So now, will she be able to succeed in this ballet, keeping in mind that it's the legendary choreography of Lev Ivanov and Marius Petipa?