The Sedona International Film Festival presents Ballet in Cinema on Monday, Feb. 6 when it hosts the big screen premiere of Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake” from the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow. There will be one show at 3:00 p.m. at the festival’s Mary D. Fisher Theatre.
“Swan Lake” features music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and choreography and libretto by Yuri Grigorovich. The cast includes principal dancers Svetlana Zakharova (Odette/Odile), Denis Rodkin (Prince Siegfried), Artemy Belyakov (the Evil Genius), Igor Tsvirko (the Fool), accompanied by the corps de ballet from the Bolshoi.
At the palace, the royal family and their guests are gathered for Prince Siegfried's birthday celebration. In a majestic ceremony, Siegfried is made a knight; young girls try to attract his attention, as he must choose a wife during the ball.
Overcome by the sudden awareness of his future responsibilities, he escapes into the night. At moonlight on the banks of a mysterious lake, Prince Siegfried meets the bewitched swan-woman Odette. Completely spellbound by her beauty, he swears his faithfulness to her. However, the Prince realizes too late that fate has another plan for him.
“Swan Lake” is a ballet of ultimate beauty and a score of unparalleled perfection born at the Bolshoi in 1877. In the dual role of white swan Odette and her rival black swan Odile, prima ballerina Svetlana Zakharova exudes both vulnerability and cunning through superb technical mastery, alongside the powerful and emotional Siegfried, Denis Rodkin. Including breathtaking scenes with the Bolshoi’s corps de ballet, this is classical ballet at its finest.