The tragic saga begins with an evil eagle that transforms a charming Chinese girl into a white swan. After a European prince dreams of the horrible scene, he sets out on a long journey to save his dream lover tumbling, leaping and flying high, acrobatic style.

It's a classic fairytale with a new twist.

In 1895, Petipa and Ivanov's Swan Lake premiered in Russia, which later turned out to be the landmark of classic ballet.

More than a century later, a unique take on Swan Lake, specially made in China, will return to the graceful creature's homeland.

The show is the first-ever acrobatic Swan Lake produced by Shanghai City Dance Company and performed by Guangdong Acrobatics Troupe.

Their world tour will start from Moscow and St Petersburg next March. The troupe will also make stops in Malaysia in May, Japan in July, and Germany, Hungary and Israel in October.

Before setting off on the world tour, the amazing acrobatics of Odette and Prince Siegfried will grace the Beijing stage at the Poly Theatre from December 22 to 28.

The main characters of Swan Lake are set to awe audiences with almost every circus trick. In an acrobatic interpretation of the tale, the performers use not only grace, beauty and acting but also their breathtaking agility, athleticism and strength. Pole balancing, jumping through hoops of fire, tightrope walking, walking on balls, jujitsu (a weaponless art of self-defence), and even David Copperfield-style large scale illusions, are some of the stunts that are almost seamlessly woven into the story.

When the prince takes a ship across the ocean, sailors perform acrobatics high in the rigging.

The court guards, dressed in Peking Opera-style robes, walk on stilts in the Forbidden City, while the evil eagle and his black swans dance on high wires.

The story is enriched, providing room for breathtaking acrobatic stunts and putting a Chinese touch to the production.

In the acrobatic version, Odette still loves Prince Siegfried only she expresses herself by dancing on tiptoe and performing the famous arabesque on the rope and roller skates. She is, after all, an acrobat rather than a ballerina, who performs awesome stunts as well as graceful ballet movements.

In the ballet version of Swan Lake, one of the most impressive numbers is the dance of the four little swans.

The acrobatic version of the show does not disappoint. The four little swans become four little frogs who dance to the familiar Tchaikovsky musical score.

The most impressive scene is no doubt the acrobatics pas de deux between the girl and the prince, which won the Golden Clown Award at the 2002 Monte-Carlo International Circus Festival and is also the core ideal and the very first inspiration for producing the acrobatic show.

Inspired by this seven-minute programme, Ning Genfu, director of the Guangdong Acrobatics Troupe, went to the renowned choreographer Zhao Ming with the idea to create a full-length Swan Lake in 2002.

Need for innovation

Ning has been devoted to acrobatics for more than 50 years since he started to learn it from his father at the age of five.

Over the years, he has been exposed to and learned from the international circus greats and magic and dance productions whenever he toured around the world with his troupe.

His ambition is to produce a brand new theatrical work featuring drama, dance and acrobatics.

"Chinese acrobatics have a long and prosperous history, and today Chinese acrobats also keep winning numerous international awards every year with their routines and stunts," he said.

"But what embarrasses us is people at home do not appreciate acrobatics as much as they did before," Ning said.

Ning cited a few reasons, which he called "complicated."

First, the programmes are often recreated from old routines, so they are no longer fresh in appealing to contemporary audiences. Then the music, costumes, props and lighting are below the standards of other theatrical productions today in China, Ning explained.

"Chinese acrobatics badly need drastic innovation to make a breakthrough," Ning said. "It should be a revolution rather than borrowing a bit from this or that art genre."

Veteran choreographer Zhao said he agrees with Ning's analysis and accepted the challenge. But the task was by no means easy.

"This acrobatic version of Swan Lake has been the creation that challenges me the most so far in my career," said Zhao. He has succeeded with quite a few popular dance works, including Farewell My Concubine and A Dream of Red Mansions, in collaboration with Shanghai City Dance Company.

"It is such a famous ballet that fans know Tchaikovsky's score well, and many fans even know Odette's every movement," he said. "But what I do may subvert the classic. Many friends thought I was crazy when I accepted the commission, and said it was a mission impossible."

While working on the choreography, Zhao did meet various expected and unexpected challenges.

For example, lacking in music and dance training, the acrobats could hardly follow his choreography. The Tchaikovsky's score is perfect for ballet but too difficult as the accompaniment for acrobatics.

Above all, none of the acrobats could dance on pointe.

Thanks to the help of the acrobatic directors of the troupe, Zhao finally overcame all the difficulties and combined ballet and acrobatics to create a fresh and original four-act adaptation of this tragic tale.

In March, the acrobatic version of Swan Lake made its debut at Shanghai Grand Theater.

Heated debates

Ever since, the revolutionary production has won acclaim mixed with heated discussions among people from both within the ballet scene and acrobatics field.

The focus is whether it uses acrobatics to interpret Swan Lake, or uses Swan Lake to showcase the acrobatic stunts. With the question in mind, the choreographer/director Zhao and choreographer Liu Jun both returned to Guangzhou where the troupe resides to work on revisions.

"After long-time discussions with Ning, we decide to tell the story through acrobatics," Zhao told China Daily, after he watched the show which closed the 2005 Shanghai International Arts Festival late last month. "Thus, we cut some 20 minutes of scenes that don't concentrate on the plot to make it more coherent."

Zhao said he doesn't believe the show, though based on the original ballet, could be compared to ballet. "Some people are debating about what it is," he said. "I never think about this question when I create something It is an acrobatic show, so you'd better not compare it to the ballet and just enjoy it."

(China Daily December 9, 2005)