Ismene Brown

Will the real Swan Lake please stand up

As the Royal Ballet’s controversial Anthony Dowell staging of Swan Lake begins its last ever season, Ismene Brown explores why this ballet remains such an enduring enigma

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It is the end of an era — the Royal Ballet’s extravagant Fabergé-egg Swan Lake production by Anthony Dowell is on its last legs. When this 28-year-old production finishes the current run on 9 April, that will be it for one of the most controversial classical productions of the past half-century.

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