Swan Lake

Swan Lake is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875-76, initially in two acts, based on Russian and German folk tales, telling the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The ballet premiered by the Bolshoi Ballet on 4 March 1877, although it is presented in many different versions, most ballet companies base their stagings on the 1895 revival of Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. There is no evidence to prove who wrote the original libretto, with theories suggesting possible sources in Russian and German folk tales, and even a link to the life story of Bavarian King Ludwig II. Tchaikovsky worked with only a basic outline from Julius Reisinger, and his influences on the score came from "specialist" composers such as Cesare Pugni and Ludwig Minkus, whom he initially had a negative opinion of before being impressed by their nearly limitless variety of melodies.learn more on wikipedia