The world’s most beloved ballet, Swan Lake, returns to the Mother City in a double-bill performance, brought to life by Cape Town City Ballet this winter.
The show kicks off with Swan Lake’s Act II, set to Tchaikovsky’s famously dynamic score, and with Raymonda, set to Alexander Glazunov’s celebrated score, with choreography by the influential ballet master Marius Petipa. Guests can expect acclaimed dancers, atmospheric lighting, striking sets and costumes, and truly iconic music in a double-header show for all ages.
Swan Lake, first performed in Moscow in 1877 with Tchaikovsky’s score, is among the most widely performed works in the classical ballet canon. Act II centres on the mystical lakeside scenes in which Prince Siegfried encounters the enchanted Queen Odette, trapped as a swan by a wicked sorcerer, with true love the only escape. The ballet’s story is simultaneously romantic and tragic, with the dancers’ carefully choreographed movements capturing some of the art form’s most visually striking sequences.
This segment establishes Swan Lake’s defining visual language that most associate with it: the white tutu, the corps de ballet moving in unison, and the iconic mime of Odette’s transformation. Various productions often offer different endings to the story, making each company’s show unique in its thematic and emotional conclusion. Cape Town City Ballet has performed Swan Lake more than 18 times since the company’s origins as the UCT Ballet Company, founded by Dulcie Howes in 1934.
Raymonda, first performed by the Imperial Ballet in St Petersburg in 1898, is less frequently staged in its complete form outside of Russia. The excerpt presented here, Raymonda Pas de Dix, showcases ten dancers in the ballet’s classical grand pas sequence, highlighting Glazunov’s score and the technical demands of Petipa’s choreography; intricate footwork, grand lifts, and the romantic and heroic themes of Raymonda’s relationship with the Crusader knight Jean de Brienne.
Book tickets to Swan Lake
Combining two landmark scores and classic stories with some of the Mother City’s most exciting dancing talent, the show is a moving showcase of the best that Cape Town’s ballet scene has to offer.
Cost: R225 – R350 per person. Book now on Webtickets.
When: 31 July & 1 August 2026 | 7pm (Fri) | 2.30pm & 6pm (Sat)
Where: Adam Small Theatre Complex, 15 Victoria Street, Stellenbosch Central
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