SBC offers Girl Scouts exclusive discount toward earning Dancercize Try-It Badge!

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois proudly presents the Springfield Ballet Company’s production of Swan Lake, March 21 & 22, 2009, at the University of Illinois at Springfield’s Sangamon Auditorium. Presented in four acts, the performance will take place at 2 p.m. each day.

Girl Scouts and Troop Leaders are offered a special discount rate of $10 per person, which is available exclusively through the SBC office. This performance is a great first step towards earning the Girl Scouts’ Dancercize Try-It Badge! To complete the badge following the performance, refer to the Girl Scouts Try-Its book, page 24! For more information or to purchase your discounted tickets for Swan Lake, please contact Sally Hamilton at 217-544-1967 or hamilton@springfieldballetco.org.

Swan Lake

A classical masterpiece, Swan Lake takes audiences on an emotional journey of a fated love. As the most popular ballet in the world, Swan Lake not only exemplifies the purest classical ballet technique and choreography, but also is breathtakingly beautiful in its presentation.

The story of Swan Lake begins when Prince Siegfried is urged by his mother, the Queen, to take a bride on his 21st birthday. To take his mind off the matter, the prince sets out into the woods on a swan hunt. There, by the shores of a silvery lake, he meets the enchanting Odette. Taken by her beauty, he quickly learns that she is under the spell of the evil sorcerer Von Rothbart.

While she is a graceful swan by day, by night she is transformed into a beautiful princess. Odette can only be free from the spell if a man swears his eternal love and fidelity to her. Siegfried vows to rescue Odette from the spell and departs for the ball held in his honor.

At the ball, the Queen introduces four eligible princesses and six ladies in waiting from which Siegfried is to select a bride. He chooses none of them. Von Rothbart, disguised as a black knight, and his daughter Odile, who by magic now resembles Odette, arrive at the ball. Siegfriend chooses Odile as his bride, believing she is the swan he vowed to rescue. However, Odette appears in a vision exposing Siegfried’s betrayal. He rushes back to the lake to battle Von Rothbart and destroy the spell; and the lovers are then united for eternity.

Known for its technical difficulty, Swan Lake is sure to be a treat for ballet enthusiasts, as well as those taking a first glimpse at this breathtaking art form.