swan lake revisits water cube in Beijing

[CM]

http://english.cntv.cn/program/cultureexpress/20100819/101308.shtml

[bart]

Thanks, CM. I don't know how I missed this when you first posted it.

I recommend video -- actually a brief news report -- to those who would like to see some of the ways in which Swan Lake might be adapted -- and I mean REALLY adapted --to a large outdoor swimming pool and a summertime entertainment. (You have to see the brief glimpse of a woman standing on point on a man's head to get the complete effect.) There's what looks like a real classical pdd as well.

The show reminded me of a related kind of aquatic performance art, one I grew up with on Long Island. At the Jones Beach Amphitheater in the 50s and early 60s, large audiences turned out in summertime to enjoy performances of operettas and musicals that combined singing, dance, water ballet, operetta or traditional musical, water-skiing, and the like.

The Beijing Swan Lake would have fit in perfectly, if anyone had been clever enough to think of it.

[CM]

Moscow City Ballet have posted some photos of the production on their Facebook page: