Margot Fonteyn and Michael Somes - Act 2, ’Swan Lake’ (Royal Ballet, 1960)

This is the 1960 film performance of the Valse, Pas de Deux and Rondo from Act 2 of ’Swan Lake’ (’Le Lac des Cygnes’) from the Royal Ballet. This performance is much too beautiful not to have on the channel, though I’m sure it’s been uploaded many many times before. Antoinette Sibley has said that when she first saw Fonteyn she just didn’t get what it was that was supposed to be so extraordinary. And that it wasn’t until her twenties that she realised what it was -- the simplicity, everything powered down to the essence of each role, the very beautiful line and the intense musicality. It’s been a bit like that with me. The cast is as follows: Margot Fonteyn: Odette Michael Somes: Prince Seigfried Bryan Ashbridge: Benno Leslie Edwards: Von Rothbart I have used the spellings given in the credits of this performance. The choreography was first set by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov to music by Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky. The stage p