The Acrobatic Swan Lake – Sadler’s Wells, London. 21.06.2024

Not content to wait another year for Cirque du Soleil’s next visit to the Royal Albert Hall, I started looking for something circus-based to fill the gap and came across adverts for The Acrobatic Swan Lake. The ads certainly made it look spectacular, so my friend and I took a chance and booked our tickets. And I’m very glad we did.

First performed in 2004, Acrobatic Swan Lake has been performed 20,000 times since in 25 different countries, winning a variety of awards worldwide. This new version is apparently a ‘recreated and improved’ version of the original, so potentially worth another watch if you’ve been previously.

If you are familiar with the story of Swan Lake, this is broadly the same with a Far Eastern twist:

A princess from the Far East is playing by a forest lake with her maids, when the Black Hawk King attacks and turns her into a swan. A prince thousands of miles away senses the tragedy and vows to rescue the princess. He crosses the ocean to the city of Chang’an and finds the white swan by the lake, but she is taken again by the Black Hawk King. When the prince follows them into a cave to rescue her, he is seduced by a black swan conjured by the Back Hawk King, mistaking her for the white swan. Back on the lakeshore, he fights the Black Hawk King and rescues the white swan, who turns back into a princess, and they live happily ever after.

Now, I think it is fair to say that this show, put on by the Xi’an Acrobatic Troupe, is more about the acrobatics than the ballet. For that reason, perhaps some of the raw emotion and drama that you find in traditional ballet performances is diminished slightly, in part because the pre-recorded music isn’t nearly as stirring than when played live by an experienced orchestra.

However, it is worth noting that this cast are being asked to combine two extraordinarily difficult disciplines, and for that they deserve no end of praise.

What the audience witnesses is 32 different acrobatic skills; too many for me to go through every single one, so I will focus on a few of my favourites:

I’m a huge fan of contortionists, because I am in awe of the way they can manipulate their own bodies. For me, the character of the Snake, played by Li Jinyan, demonstrated some of the most impressive skills of the entire spectacle, showing incredible strength, alongside the ability to effectively bend herself in half – backwards.

Sadly, my programme doesn’t tell me which acrobat (there are many!) to credit with the ship performance. His handstands on the ship’s masts were a masterclass in balance and precision. A truly eye-widening display.

Similarly, I am unable to name the four frogs, who provided some light comic relief whilst dancing upside down on their hands, which the whole audience (including myself) seemed to thoroughly enjoy.

Throughout the show, despite the incredible displays of dexterity and daring in front of me, I found myself looking for the iconic moment I’d seen in pictures and other advertising. We got nearer and nearer the end, and I feared it wasn’t coming. Had we been misled? Was our prima ballerina not going to make it beyond her Prince’s shoulders?

But we were not to be disappointed, and despite anticipating it, when it came it still elicited a gasp. Show me another ballet dancer who can do what Sun Yina – our White Swan – can do: be en pointe on the head of her Prince, Zhou Jie. How either of them held such a pose is beyond my comprehension, but it was completely worth the ticket price solely for that moment.

Aside from the amazing acrobatics, there is plenty to commend the production. Both sets and costumes – created by Tao Lei and Zhang Yue’er respectively – were stunningly beautiful. As if all of that wasn’t enough, they throw in swans on roller blades, hidden under their beautiful white gowns. I absolutely wasn’t expecting that!

This truly is a spectacle, and the skill of the acrobatic troupe is something to behold. Far from a traditional ballet, the combination of these two skillsets creates something different and exhilarating to watch.

Unfortunately, The Acrobatic Swan Lake only had a brief run at Sadler’s Well this Summer, but keep your eyes peeled for future announcements. If you get the opportunity, it’s definitely one to see!