Swan Lake is a famous ballet by Marius Pepita and Lev Ivanov, who created the Nutcracker. With the great success of the Nutcracker in 1891, the pair first put Swan Lake out in 1895. Just as with the Nutcracker, Tchaikovsky created the beautiful score.
The original story was a German folk tale. It was then adopted by nearby French families and the story was modified. The story was adjusted again when it was made into the ballet.
In the story, Odette is a beautiful young woman. Rothbart is an evil sorcerer who turns her into a swan. She only turns back into a woman for a few hours each evening. One of those evenings, Prince Siegfried comes along and falls in love with her. He promises to free her from her spell.
Prince Siegfried is pressured to choose a bride and a large ball is chosen for him to make his decision. Rothbart's daughter, Odile, goes to the ball dressed as a black swan, and Siegfried, deceived, promises to marry her. Odette shows up and runs back to her lake.
Different versions have different endings at this point. In some versions, the two lovers drown themselves rather than live apart, and their souls ascend to heaven together. In other versions, Siegfried kills Rothbart and breaks the spell.
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