Twas a night of Ballet.......

Twas a night of Ballet, at the Rialto no less, to gaze at the beautiful dancing and prancing and jumping of "Swan Lake"!!!!

Tony bought these tickets a few weeks ago as an early surprise Valentine's Day gift. Every year, the Rialto in Joliet hosts this production for one weekend, and I always want to go, but then we never do......either plans or justifying $140 after Christmas always gets in the way. Well, this year was different!!!.....And it helped that the tickets were listed on Groupon so we scored them for a deal!

I thought it was amazing! I used to watch "Swan Lake" every year on Christmas Eve while my parents went out shopping. I had free reign over the "big tv" and it became a tradition for me to enjoy an afternoon of "Swan Lake" and "The Nutcracker Ballet." Tony was unfamiliar with "Swan Lake", so every time there was an intermission (and there were 3!), I filled him in on what happened. I was worried about him hating the show. It's no secret that I LOVE MUSICALS and I have drug him along for his fair share, but a ballet has absolutely no words, and I was worried that the soothing music would put him right to sleep. But he was a trouper, and every time I looked over, he was watching the show, with his eyes squinched (squeezed + pinched = squinched) trying to figure out what was happening, lol.

The only disappointment to me was the ending. They completely changed the ending! How do you just change the ending on a 300 year old ballet???

The story is about a young Prince looking to find a bride. The King and Queen host a party with all eligible ladies in the land to come and dance with the Prince, in hopes that one will catch his eye. Unfortunately, he is uninterested and ventures to the lake for a little "blow off some steam" hunting. While out, he watches as a beautiful swan transforms into a human. He soon realizes the beautiful girl is Princess Odette. 

Odette is an enchanted princess under a spell of the evil sorcerer Von Rothbart; she has been transformed into a swan by day and can only regain her human form at night. She has many companions under the same spell, who have made her their queen, hence her title "The Swan Queen." She is forced to live by a lake that was magically formed by her grieving mother's tears when Rothbart kidnapped her. The only way for the spell to be broken is by the power of eternal love between Odette and a young man who will remain faithful to her, for if the vow of eternal love is broken, she will remain a swan forever.

Prince Siegfrield is so struck by her beauty that he falls in love with her at once and when she tells him her story, he promises to love her forever and invites her to a Royal Ball at his castle so he may choose her as his bride. They spend the night dancing together, falling more and more in love with each other until Rothbart interjects. He has been watching and feared a kiss of true love would break the spell. Rothbart and the Prince duel, but Odette steps in to save Rothbart, not the Prince, out of fear that the curse would remain intact forever, if the Prince were to strike down Rothbart before the spell could be broken. Soon dawn breaks, and Odette is forced to return to the lake as a swan, leaving Siegfried alone.

The Prince waits for Odette at the Ball and believes she has attended when two strangers arrive. But it is actually Rothbart and his daughter Odelle in disguise. Rothbart has planned to trick Siegfried into breaking his vow to Odette by magically disguising Odelle as Odette. She looks identical to Odette in every way except that while Odette is always white, Odelle is black as night. Siegfried dances with her and fails to see the real Odette appearing at the window in her swan form to warn him of Rothbart's plot and pleading with him to remain faithful to her. Rothbart's plan is a success when Siegfried declares his eternal love to Odelle, thinking she is Odette and Rothbart joyfully reveals that Odette is now forever in his power.

Odette flees back to the lake in distress and Siegfried follows her, begging her to forgive him, which she does but she tells him that now she will never be free from Rothbart's spell. The only way she can be free is if she dies, and she would rather die than live without Prince Siegfried. Siegfried cannot live without Odette and also declares that he will die with her. When Rothbart soon appears, Odette throws herself off the cliff, into the lake and Siegfried follows her. At this moment, Rothbart's powers are destroyed and the spell is finally broken. When Odette hits the water, she is in her human form. Odette's companions are also freed from the enchanted spell. As the sun rises, Siegfried and Odette ascend into Heaven together, united in love for all eternity.

I completely understand that directors are "visionaries" and often have different interpretations for things, but I thought "their" ending was stupid, terrible, and completely took away from the true message of the story. In "their" version, Prince Siegfried and Rothbart meet in the forest. The two battle and Rothbart is struck down by the Prince's sword to meet his untimely death. Odette is overjoyed and runs to the Prince, where they embrace each other, kiss, and the spell is immediately broken. The maidens and the Princess return to human form and they all live happily ever after.

Well......WHAT.THE.HELL!!!......I felt this complete falsehood to be a cruel, monstrosity of "Swan Lake". I compared it to similar feelings if someone butchered the works of Shakespeare and let Romeo and Juliet live "happily ever after". The whole message of love and loss vanished! But other than that.....I thought it was WONDERFUL!!! :) :) :)