''Swan Lake'' is a one-act ballet made by

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company' ...

's co-founder and ballet master George Balanchine to

Tschaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

's eponymous music (1875–56). The premiere took place Thursday, 20 November

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

at the City Center of Music and Drama, New York.

Original cast

Maria Tallchief Elizabeth Marie Tallchief ( Osage family name: , Osage script: ; January 24, 1925 – April 11, 2013) was an American ballerina. She was considered America's first major prima ballerina. She was the first Native American (Osage Nation) to ...

* Patricia Wilde * André Eglevsky * Frank Hobi * Edward Bigelow

External links

Swan Lake
on the Balanchine Trust website {{Swan Lake navbox Ballets by George Balanchine Ballets by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 1951 ballet premieres Swan Lake New York City Ballet repertory