The Dying Swan is a solo dance choreographed by Mikhail Fokine to Camille Saint-Saëns's Le Cygne from Le Carnaval des animaux as a pièce d'occasion for the ballerinaAnna Pavlova, who performed it about 4,000 times. The short ballet follows the last moments in the life of a swan, and was first presented in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1905. The ballet has since influenced modern interpretations of Odette in Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake and has inspired non-traditional interpretations as well as various adaptations.
Background
Inspired by swans that she had seen in public parks and by Lord Tennyson's poem "The Dying Swan", Anna Pavlova, who had just become a ballerina at the Mariinsky Theatre, asked Michel Fokine to create a solo dance for her for a 1905 gala concert being given by artists from the chorus of the Imperial Mariinsky Opera. Fokine suggested Saint-Saëns's cello solo, Le Cygne, which Fokine had been playing at home on a mandolin to a friend's piano accompaniment, and Pavlova agreed. A rehearsal was arranged and the short dance was completed quickly. Fokine remarked in Dance Magazine : In 1934, Fokine told dance critic Arnold Haskell:
Plot summary
The ballet was first titled The Swan but then acquired its current title, following Pavlova's interpretation of the work's dramatic arc as the end of life. The dance is composed principally of upper body and arm movements and tiny steps called pas de bourrée suivi. French critic André Levinson wrote:
Performances and critical commentary
The Dying Swan was first performed by Pavlova at a gala at the Noblemen's Hall in Saint Petersburg, Russia on Friday, December 22, 1905. It was first performed in the United States at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City on March 18, 1910. American dance critic and photographer Carl Van Vechten noted that the ballet was "the most exquisite specimen of art which she has yet given to the public." Pavlova performed the piece approximately 4,000 times, and on her deathbed in The Hague, reportedly cried, "Prepare my swan costume." Fokine's granddaughter, Isabelle, notes that the ballet does not make "enormous technical demands" on the dancer but it does make "enormous artistic ones because every movement and every gesture should signify a different experience," which is "emerging from someone who is attempting to escape death." She notes that modern performances are significantly different from her grandfather's original conception and that the dance today is often made to appear to be a variation of Swan Lake, which she describes as "Odette at death's door." Isabelle says that the ballet is not about a ballerina being able to transform herself into a swan, but about death, with the swan as a metaphor.
Legacy
Pavlova was recorded dancing The Dying Swan in a 1925 silent film, to which sound is often added. The short ballet has influenced interpretations of Odette in Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, particularly during the parting of the lovers in the first lakeside scene. The dance was almost immediately adapted by various ballerinas internationally. As a result, Fokine published an official version of the choreography in 1925, highlighted with 36 photographs of his wife Vera Fokina demonstrating the ballet's sequential poses. At a later date, Kirov-trained Natalia Makarova commented: The ballet has been variously interpreted and adapted. The 1917 Russian filmThe Dying Swan by director Yevgeni Bauer is the story of an artist who strangles a ballerina. Maya Plisetskaya interpreted the swan as elderly and stubbornly resisting the effects of aging, much like herself. Eventually, the piece came to be considered one of Pavlova's trademarks. More recently, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo has performed a parody version that emphasizes every excess dormant in the choreography. In 2000, street theatre artist Judith Lanigan created a hula hoop adaptation that has been performed at international street theatre festivals, comedy and burlesque events, and in traditional and contemporary circuses. Several figure skaters have performed The Dying Swan with skate-choreography inspired by the ballet. 1936 Olympic bronze medallist Maribel Vinson reviewed Sonja Henie's 1936 professional debut for The New York Times, noting: Some ballerinas, including Ashley Bouder of New York City Ballet and Nina Ananiashvili, formerly of American Ballet Theatre, have used Dying Swan arms in Swan Lake when making Odette's exit at the end of Act II. Ogden Nash, in his "Verses for Camille Saint-Saëns' 'Carnival of the Animals'", mentions Pavlova: The swan can swim while sitting down, For pure conceit he takes the crown, He looks in the mirror over and over, And claims to have never heard of Pavlova. In response to impact of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic on the performing arts, Carlos Acosta, artistic director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, adapted Fokine's choreography with the ballerina raising her head at the end instead, and with Céline Gittens, principal dancer of the company, and the musicians performing in their respective homes. Misty Copeland, principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre, invited 31 other dancers to dance The Swan to raise fund for the relief fund of the participating dancers' companies and other related funds.
