The World's Most Iconic Ballet

National Ballet of Canada presents Karen Kain's chilling adaptation of Swan Lake. Telling the timeless story of good and evil, the romantic tragedy has enchanted audiences since 1877. Set against Tchaikovsky's haunting score, the ballet tells the story of a beautiful princess - Odette - who is turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's spell, only to return to her human form at night.

Choreographers for NBOC's 2025 Swan Lake includes Kain, Christopher Stowell and Robert Binet after Erik Bruhn, Lev Ivanov and Marius Petipa. Kian is known for her spot on the Canadian Walk of Fame and has been called by Canada Post a "legend of ballet" for her lifetime of artistic achievements.

WHAT IS SWAN LAKE ABOUT?

One evening Odette stumbles upon the lovelorn Prince Siegfried, the heir to the kingdom, and the two fall madly in love. But after dancing together, she mysteriously disappears into the night, leaving him desperate to find her.

Meanwhile, his parents are keen for him to marry into another royal family and hold a ball for him. The Prince is despondent, until the arrival of a mysterious black-clad woman who looks exactly like his beloved Odette - however, this woman is called Odile, and is dressed like a Black Swan. This stranger dances flirtatiously and wildly, and Seigfried is overjoyed, until he notices a mysterious figure in white desperately gesturing to him from a mirror; Odette. Will he be able to break the sorcerer's spell and be with the princess that he loves?