Black Swan history

[rg]

there has already been some discussion here about Odile and her identification as the "black swan" - my hunch has long been that alexandra fedorova-fokine's staging of the ballroom scene from SWAN LAKE, entitled THE MAGIC SWAN, helped give great impetus to equating Odile with the Black Swan, something that was not recessarily done prior to this time.

i recently came across this publicity still from THE MAGIC SWAN, showing the 1941 staging's first cast: tamara toumanova and igor youskevich.

i've attached a scan of that photo here.

in THE BORZOI BOOK OF BALLET (1946 by grace robert) there is a frontice piece photo of toumanova and eglevsky in this ballet. (i assume eglevsky was a second cast Siegfried to toumanova's Odile.)

tho' the author notes only that the ballet's scenery and costumes were by eugene dunkel, and amounted to a 'third-rate road-company attempt at baroque grandeur' she does allow that toumanova 'looked magnificent in a black tutu glittering with jewels,' a source i can't now put my finger on, notes that karinska was responsible for the creation of Odile's tutu.