The Marshall Artists Series hosted the iconic ballet Swan Lake Tuesday night, bringing a piece of Russian folklore and German legend to life for Marshall students and community members.   

This full-scale production performed by The State Ballet Theatre of Russia featured 50 of Russia’s star dancers. 

It was the first time the Marshall Artist Series has hosted a showing of Swan Lake, making the night a first experience for many audience members. 

“Ballets, in general, don’t really come here often so when something like this comes to the Marshall Artists Series, it’s really nice to be able to experience it,” said Marshall student, Kateira Hogan.   

Through classical dance to the music of Pyotr Tchaikovsky, performers told the story of a young prince working to rid a beautiful swan maiden of an evil spell.

Marshall student, Jessica Jacoby said the “whimsical” story appealed to her and possibly other audience members.

“Just the idea of seeing this ballet got me here,” Jacoby said. “I don’t think the audience for this type of thing is too specific, kids can enjoy it and so can adults which is different from a lot of other things that play here that are more targeted.”

Marshall students were not the only attendees of the nearly sold out performance. Many community members took advantage of the opportunity to attend the renowned ballet.

Huntington resident, Rebecca Coleman brought her 8-year-old daughter to see the show.

“I’m so glad my daughter gets to experience this,” Coleman said. “She’s been in ballet classes since she was 4 but has never been to an actual professional ballet so I jumped on tickets to this show as soon as they were available. It’s really a once in a lifetime thing.”

The Marshall Artists Series’ next event will be the 30th Anniversary Screening of “The Breakfast Club” including a Q&A with Molly Ringwald, Feb. 21 at 3pm at the Keith Albee Performing Arts Center. 

Leah Cook can be contacted at [email protected].