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The choreographer and artistic director of the Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, Ivan Cavallari, is about to commit an act of lèse-majesté. The Lake, the title of his next creation, presented from May 28 to June 7, 2026, in the grand Wilfrid-Pelletier Hall at Place des Arts, is indeed a rather bold transformation of the classic among the Classics in ballet: Tchaïkovski’s Swan Lake. What is, in truth, more emblematic of the romantic, fairy-tale, and magical ballet with tutus, pointe shoes, curses, princes, talking animals, and wicked sorcerers than this 19th-century Russian masterpiece?
Magical realism to replace Fairy magic
In this new reading, Cavallari transposes the story of a typical fairy tale kingdom into the contemporary world, but one still inhabited by the spirit of magical realism. This artistic movement, which appeared at the beginning of the 20th century, first in visual arts, then extended into literature and produced masterpieces such as One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The idea is simple: in a realistic narrative framework, fantastic elements appear. Is it a dream, an illusion, a true permeability of reality with the supernatural world? One never really answers the question, because the essence of the approach is rather to serve the psychological exploration of the characters, as well as a reflection on contemporary society.
In short, the “magic” becomes a very useful symbolic tool, but ultimately almost secondary compared to the fundamental objective of the work, which is rather to delve into certain current issues.
It is here, then, that Cavallari’s approach will make complete sense, at least that’s the intention.
The fairy-tale kingdom from the original story becomes a film set for a perfume commercial here. Odette, the original White swan, is here a young dancer fresh out of school, who comes to shake up the already present team and especially Odile, the current face of the Vertige Noir perfume, the “Black swan.” Odette will have to fight to become the face of the future new best-seller named… the White Swan. The world of fashion and luxury thus serves as a pretext for a critique of the rigid codes imposing a vision of the body, beauty, etc., but also the unhealthy relationships that come with them, jealousy, envy, and ultimately, the erasure of one’s identity.
The guiding principle identified by Cavallari is Odette’s strength, who must rediscover her humanity (read: her own identity, beyond the clichés and norms imposed on her).
In Swan Lake, the evil sorcerer Rothbart is the main antagonist. This time in The Lake, Cavallari has made it a trinity, because, he says, it is a powerfully symbolic number in Christian religion and that Evil can insinuate itself there. The three characters thus summoned in the synopsis, who will appear and disappear several times in this new version, can be associated with the original “designers” of the ballet: Tchaïkovski, Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov. “It could also be Armani, Versace, and Ivan Cavallari!” In short, the three entities, whatever their name, multiply the forces that stifle Odette’s personality, and in the end, will make her victory an even more resounding achievement. At least, that’s the goal. We’ll see if it works as intended. A risk fully embraced by the choreographer.
Tchaikovsky in place of Tchaikovsky
The other interesting aspect in Ivan Cavallari’s reinterpretation is his decision to touch upon Tchaïkovski’s music. A memorable, powerful score, and inextricably linked to this ballet, indeed to all ballets! However, the Montreal choreographer decided to amputate part of the original score to replace it with another piece of music that is powerfully personal and emotional, by the same composer: his Sixth Symphony, “Pathétique.” Why?
There is a lot of “entertainment” music in the ballet. For example, I eliminated the entire part where the princesses come from all over to seduce the Prince and marry him. In the context of the updated version of The Lake, I found that we no longer needed this Russian dance, Neapolitan dance, etc. I wanted to compensate for music that is deeply connected to death. This symphony was completed a few days before Tchaïkovski died. There is an immeasurable power in the score. And I find that it symbolically aligns with Odette’s journey, for whom transformation is like death before a new life.
A frankly interesting idea, let’s admit it. In the end, for Ivan Cavallari, the updating, in the form of magical realism, of this musical and danced tale is an opportunity to deliver a message: that it is not necessary to have princes and princesses to show a character who has nobility. It is this inner struggle for authenticity, truth, and dignity, with all its resonances within ourselves (the audience), that Cavallari wished to illustrate by taking the gamble of quite radically transforming, for the first time in the world, a story that we had become too accustomed to thinking untouchable.
Let’s meet at the Wilfrid-Pelletier Hall to judge if it works or not.
