Bringing 40 artistes together was tough for 'Swan Lake' director

Anatoily Azatisky, director of the Russian ballet "Swan Lake" -- staged here -- says bringing together 40 artistes for the performance in India was not an easy task, especially due to a language barrier.

"Swan Lake", presented at the Siri Fort Auditorium from Friday to Sunday, has been brought to the country with the help of entertainment company Navrasa Duende.

Talking about the obstacles he and his team had to face while bringing it all together here in India, Azatisky told IANS: "Bringing a group of 40 people together was a difficult task and especially due to language barrier and apprehensions about the new country... though I would like to tell you that my team love their job and were most supportive and understanding throughout."

On the costumes made for the ballet, which was originally composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875-76, Azatisky said they were designed individually for each artist.

With "Swan Lake" being an old ballet which has had a number of versions, how different is his version?

"'Swan Lake' being the oldest and one of the most loved ballets is recreated by a lot of ballet companies nowadays. The classical versions essentially are the same. However, there has been a trend to try a lot of thematically-inspired ballet versions without claiming these as the original.

"Also, there are usually two endings for 'Swan Lake' ballet and we always prefer to end it on a happy note," Azatisky said.

Azatisky also plans to stage "Sleeping Beauty" and "Nutcracker" among other productions in the coming years.

--IANS

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