Performances of the Swan Lake Ballet from Aug. 22 to 24 at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei, which started off the first Taipei music festival, represented a triumph for local musical talent and organization.

Composed by Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky, Swan Lake was first performed in Moscow in 1877 without much success. Some of the original program was changed for the 1895 production at St. Petersburg (now Leningrad) by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. Thereafter, the work has won general acclaim and become an essential part of any ballet troupe's repertoire.

During the past 30 years, only the second act of Swan Lake has been performed in Taipei. After a presentation by a troupe from San Francisco 20 years ago, there was a second performance by students led by Chinese choreographer resident in Japan, Kan Jia-fu. The last presentation of the ballet in Taiwan was by an Australian troupe at the Taipei City Hall in 1968.

In order to promote the standard of local ballet further, the Taipei City Government allocated some NT$1.4 million (US$40,000) to enable the Yao Ming-li Ballet Troupe to perform Tchaikovsky's famous work in its entirety in the festival, with the Taipei City Symphony Orchestra playing the music.

As a youth, Yao learned ballet under Huang Hsiu-feng, the most famous ballet master in Taiwan, and from 1962, pursued her studies in the Tagibana Dance School in Japan. She is currently teaching at the College of Chinese Culture and the National Academy of Arts in Taipei. During her 15-year teaching career, she has directed students in some 10 ballets, including excerpts from Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and the Nutcracker Suite. Yao pointed out that in Taiwan most dance troupes have neglected Western classical ballet and instead concentrated on Chinese styles. But, she added, an understanding of Western dance can inspire local choreographers to improve their Chinese-style productions too.

To ensure the Swan Lake production was as close to perfection as possible, Yao and her troupe put in meticulous efforts in repeated rehearsals, listened to records and tape recordings and read books and other writings on the subject. By carefully observing each dancer's special abilities, Yao was able to assign roles correctly.

In Act Ⅰ of the ballet, Prince Siegried is seen drinking and frolicking with his friends in the palace garden. The merriment is interrupted by the queen who tells him to choose a bride in time for his birthday party to be held the next day. Unhappy at having to make his decision so swiftly, the prince sees swans flying over in the sky, and decides to go hunting.

Act Ⅱopens in a forest as the prince meets the swan princess Odette and falls in love with her. The princess returns to human form only at night as a result of a spell which can only be broken by a declaration of everlasting love. When the prince reveals his feelings, the princess vanishes, and he is left to wander alone and downcast by the lakeshore. Ensemble dances and pas-de-deux are the main features of this act.

In Act Ⅲ, at the prince's birthday party, beauties from every country are gathered at the royal palace. Among them, however, is the devil impersonating a nobleman whose daughter, the Black Swan, is posing as Odette. Unaware of her true identity, the prince proposes marriage to the black swan. A sudden thunderbolt strips off the disguises, and Odette appears at the window sobbing. Realizing he has been deceived, the prince runs to the lakeshore to ask for Odette's forgiveness. The culmination of this act is the 32 pirouettes of the black swan, which require expert technique.

In Act Ⅳ, the prince and princess both jump into the lake to perish in the hopelessness of their love. As they do so, the spell is broken, and the swan resumes human shape. The reunion of the couple gives the ballet a happy ending.

The enthusiasm and strenuous efforts of the dancers made up for a few imperfections in their techniques. Their efforts to pioneer a challenging course earned the praise of the appreciative audience.

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Yao and members of her troupe put in meticulous efforts in repeated rehearsals of the "Swan Lake."

Yao and members of her troupe put in meticulous efforts in repeated rehearsals of the "Swan Lake.".

Yao and members of her troupe put in meticulous efforts in repeated rehearsals of the "Swan Lake.".