I think Swan Lake really has everything.
It has the drama, the poetry, the classical dancing.
It's the most passionate story.
It's the journey of two broken people coming together to find their love for each other.
Anybody who's watching will absolutely feel the total drama.
Act I begins like most good things with a party
It's Siegfried's birthday, there's a lot of weight on him to marry
which he doesn't want to do so he kind of removes himself from the situation
goes to hunt which is where he first meets Odette
As soon as Odette sees Siegfried, she sees that he's got this bow
so she's fearful but also she's never seen anyone so beautiful in all her life
I try and build her trust and show her that they could be each other's saviour
from these bad situations that they're both in
There is a mime that the swan queen uses and Siegfried
He asks 'You came here. Why?'
She's very frightened and she says 'I'm the queen of the swans'
He replies 'If you are the queen then I will bow to you.'
and then she says 'Over there is one angry creature who makes me a swan'
'But if there's one who will love me and marry me
and swear eternal love I will be a swan no more.'
For every ballerina to play Odette/ Odile is the pinnacle really of their career.
it is fascinating to have these two facets of sort of the same character
An incredible transformation for any ballerina to make is from
the white swan to the black swan
For Odette, every step is measured you know you're feeling the ache of her sorrow
through the choreography and then with Odile you have
the glittering sharp edge technique, the movements are much more exaggerated
much more exuberant and it's hopefully a bit of a time to show off
if it all goes to plan!
Swan Lake is incredibly hard for the ballerina and can be quite daunting
so you have to build your stamina quite early in the rehearsal process
When you take on classical roles like Odette/Odile Prince Siegfried
You really need to have the whole tool belt of technique
The very very beginning, drive the music rather than follow
Rehearsing Odette/ Odile isn't quite as simple as wearing a white practice tutu
tutu one day and a black one the next they are so polar opposite
Lauren has this amazing meticulous eye for detail
and what she does so brilliantly is connect the emotion
not only to the way she acts in her face but the way she acts in her body
so I really see her physicality change even in the early rehearsals
William's a true artist and an incredible technician
We both love to use our imagination to create a sort of spontaneous feeling
within the story but with always sort of this classical understanding underneath
We'll rehearse meticulously in the studio but one of the amazing things about live
performance is being rehearsed enough to be able to be free again.
So we're not really seeing technique, we're just seeing the story unfold
Tchaikovsky's score is so huge you can feel as much as the music gives you
and Tchaikovsky's music gives you so much.
You can really take your journey from the music
I'm just allowing it to tell me what I'm feeling.
The music is absolutely so in line with the story.
It's such an emotional such an incredibly powerful score.
Swan Lake has beautifully crafted choreography by Liam Scarlett
combined with the most incredible music.
It's really extraordinarily vivid Tchaikovsky really pulls out all the stops
it really is one of those ballets that's hard work but very very fulfilling.
Swan lake always will be a masterpiece.