Presented by: The Royal New Zealand Ballet

Show times
17 May 2024 - 7:30pm
18 May 2024 - 1:30pm
18 May 2024 - 7:30pm

Considered the greatest of all classical ballets, Swan Lake is a perfect marriage of music and dance.

With Tchaikovsky’s sweeping score – lush, romantic, instantly recognisable – and Kristian Fredrikson’s opulent designs, gorgeously lit by Jon Buswell, Swan Lake transports the audience from palace ballroom to lakeside in wave upon wave of beauty and emotion. You’ll be inexorably drawn into the unfolding tragedy and exalt as the dancers bring every facet of their iconic characters to life.

Celebrating the dramatic and technical brilliance of a new generation of RNZB dancers, this production, honouring and cherishing the artistic legacy of former Artistic Director and RNZB kaumatua Russell Kerr will celebrate the Company’s rich past and bright future.

We are thrilled to be able to present this beautiful production, not seen in Aotearoa since 2013, with the support of colleagues from the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (Wellington), the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra (Christchurch) and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra (Auckland). The Royal New Zealand Ballet production of Swan Lake exceeds expectations.

Immaculately professional, the production overflows with an opulence and a gracefulness hard to find in other art forms, making show-goers feel almost like royalty while the dancers are on stage.
—Lauren Hayes, Southland Times, August 2013