Teacher Guide or Home School Resource
Introducing Swan Lake with Prima Princessa Swan Lake
Hello Teachers and Parents!
We are about to explore the wonderful world of classical ballet and learn all about one of the most famous ballets ever created, Swan Lake. Through our 40 minute DVD “Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake” you will learn the story of Swan Lake and learn some basic ballet steps too. Our show features real professional ballet footage narrated by a cartoon ballerina so children can easily follow the story. This teacher guide or homeschool resource is designed to be enriching, fun and educational. It is a great way to expose children to the classic performing arts.
The Ballet Swan Lake is a gorgeous romantic ballet, which shows how a woman’s grace and beauty is like that of a swan. This ballet is set to music written by Peter Tchaikovsky, and has some of the most expressive, memorable, and graceful movements ever performed on stage.
This lesson plan is designed to be used in conjunction with watching “Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake,” and also as a great introduction before attending a live ballet performance.
Our goal in creating the Prima Princessa series is to inspire the love of ballet in children and grown-ups alike, and to encourage everyone to get up and dance and then to go see live ballet in the theater.
Grade Level(s): pre-school to 5th grade
Overview: The first lesson in this teacher guide or home school resource will introduce students to the classic ballet Swan Lake and classical music in general. This lesson can also be used to teach children basic dance moves if an appropriate space is available.
Objectives of this Guide:
Students will:
• Learn the story of Swan Lake and something about where it came from
• Learn about the main characters of the story
• Identify the music composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky and his other works
• Understand that classical ballet is a creative way to tell a story through music and movement
• Become familiar with the history of ballet and classical music
• Learn how to develop an appreciation for ballet and classical music
We recommend playing our DVD “Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake” in conjunction with this written guide.
While viewing the DVD, students will be able to do basic dance movements, which will enhance their appreciation of ballet. These moves are demonstrated by a combination of pre-school children and pre-teen ballet students from School of American Ballet, the official academy of the New York City Ballet.
Procedure:
1. It is recommended that this lesson of this teacher guide or home school resource be done in 3 parts and done over 3 days in conjunction with viewing the DVD. The “Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake” DVD is divided into 3 parts each featuring one Act from the show and each running about 10. Spend approximately 10 minutes discussing concepts in the related lesson plan section and then watch a section of the show with the class.
2. If possible, clear a space for children to dance along with the show or set up a screen in the school gym.
LESSON ONE: The Story of Swan Lake
Students will learn story of Swan Lake.
LESSON TWO: An Introduction to classical ballet students will learn how stories can be told verbally, musically and through physical movement.
LESSON THREE: An introduction to classical music, students will learn a brief history of classical music and classical composers.
Lesson One: The origin and story of Swan Lake
A famous Russian composer named Peter Tchaikovsky wrote Swan Lake in 1875. The legend of the Swan-Maiden goes back thousands of years. Beautiful women who turn into birds were popular themes for stories all over the world, and the swan was the most popular one because of its grace when swimming in the water.
Swan Lake tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer’s curse.
Swan Lake: Act I
It is a beautiful Spring day and Prince Siegfried arrives in the palace courtyards and celebrates his birthday with townspeople and other royalty. During the party, his mother gives him crossbow and tells him that because he is of age now, must get married. Then he takes his new crossbow and goes to the woods with his hunting buddies.
Swan Lake: Act 2
Prince Siegfried finds himself a quiet spot in the forest by an enchanted lake, Swan Lake. While Siegfried watches, he sees the most beautiful swan of all, it’s the queen of the swans. As dusk falls, the swan turns into the most beautiful young woman he has ever seen. Her name is Odette, the Swan Queen. She tells the prince that an evil sorcerer, Von Rothbart, has turned her and the other girls into swans and that the lake was formed by the tears of their parents’ who miss them so much. Von Rothbart is part black owl and part evil sorcerer.
She tells him that the only way the spell could be broken is if a noble prince pledges his dieing love to her. The Prince, about to confess his love for her, is quickly interrupted by the evil sorcerer Von Rothbart. He takes Odette from Prince Siegfried and commands all of the swan maidens to leave.
Swan Lake: Act 3
The next day is Prince Siegfried’s big birthday party. It’s a huge ball where princes and princesses from all over the land come to celebrate his birthday. Many beautiful princesses come to the party hoping that the Prince will choose them to be his new wife. Although the princesses are lovely, he cannot stop thinking about Odette, the Swan Queen. His mother the Queen commands him to choose a bride, but he cannot. Then something terrible happens. While he is dancing, the evil Von Rothbart arrives and brings his daughter, Odile to the party. He has cast a spell on Odile to make her look just like Odette. The prince instantly falls for this mysterious woman in black, as he dances with her. Oh, no, he thinks she is the Swan maiden from the lake…. He is falling for the wrong girl! It’s a trick…The Prince is being tricked by the evil sorcerer.
Little does he know, the real Odette is watching him from a window. The prince soon confesses his love to wrong girl, thinking that she is Odette. To Odette’s horror, she flies away into the night. Prince Siegfried sees the real Odette flying from the window and realizes he made a terrible mistake. Von Rothbart tells the prince the truth that this is his daughter Odile. Prince Siegfried quickly leaves the party and chases after Odette in hopes that he can make things right again.
Swan Lake: Act 4
Odette flew back to the lake and joined the rest of the girl swans. She is so sad. Prince Siegfried arrives during a terrible storm and searches for his deal Odette. He looks all through the flock of swans until he finally finds her.
He explains to Odette that the evil Von Rothbart tricked him and she forgives him. The strength of true love prevails and Odette and all the swan maidens are human again are free to go back to their loving families. Odette and Seigfired can now marry and live happily ever after.
Questions to ask children after reading lesson One:
1. Who wrote Swan Lake?
2. Who are the two main characters in Swan Lake that fall in love?
3. Who is the evil character that casts a curse on the maidens?
4. What is the evil curse?
5. How does Swan Lake end?
Important Teacher or Parent Note: It is important to note that there are different versions of Swan Lake. “Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake” DVD features a happy ending but many version have a tragic ending depicting suicide.
In the traditional Russian version, it has a happy ending where Odette and Seigfired defeat the evil Von Rothbart and live happily ever after. In some versions however, the end is tragic like Romeo and Juliet where the love stuck couple plunge to their death in the lake. In other versions there is a mighty battle where Seigfried dies and then Odette commits suicide out of sadness for losing Seigfried. Therefore if you are bringing a small child to a performance of Swan Lake, make sure you know which version it is before hand, so you can prepare your child.
Lesson 2 of Teacher Guide or Home School Resource : An introduction to classical ballet
Classical ballet is the most formal ballet style and requires years of practice and training. Classical ballet is most known for pointe work, which is when a ballerina goes up on the point of her toes in “toe-shoes.” Dancing on your toes in toe-shoes make the ballerina look like she is floating, and flying, effortlessly almost like magic. So, dancing in toe-shoes is a very special thing that is only found in Classical ballet.
Did you ever wonder why ballet terms are all in French? Well, it’s because classical ballet comes from France, and the original French words are still used to day in dance classes all over the world, no matter what language you speak.
The first official classical ballet school and classical ballet company were formed about 400 years ago, in France by King Louis XIV. Back then there was no cable TV, no movies, no CD players, ipods or Radio stations. People entertained themselves by performing for each other, and the most special place of honor to perform was for the King in his court.
To encourage more dance and better dance, the King of France, created the ballet school Academie Royale de Danse and the Ballet de l”Opera, better know today as the Paris Opera Ballet. He then built the Paris Opera Theater where the Paris Opera Ballet would perform for all the French noble men and visitors.
Did you ever wonder why dancers never speak or sing on stage? Ballet is a way of telling a story through movement. Dancers do not talk on stage. Ballets are often classic storybook tales that are explained through the dancers emotions and movements, and this is called pantomime. Each classical ballet tells a story, often a love story, but instead of words dancers use their entire bodies to express themselves. When they are sad, they move very slowly and sadly to slow and sad music, and when they are happy their entire bodies jump for joy and show happiness to quick moving fun music.
Classical ballet is performed on a stage, in front of an audience, usually with a live orchestra of musicians playing their instruments in the orchestra pit in front of the stage. On the stage, there will be stage sets and lights. By using sets and lighting the stage can look like any place the designer wants; for example sets can make a stage look like a forest in one act and then be changed to like a castle ballroom in another act.
Ballet dancers have special costumes and make-up to help them look like the characters that they are pretending to be. One type of costume that you often see in Classical Ballet is a tutu. Ballerinas wear tutus fluffy skirts that are often sparkly and quite short so the audience can see their leg and footwork easily. Costumes can transform a ballerina to look like a queen, a fairy, a cat, a doll, anything that the imagination can create.
Classical Ballet and the use of toe-shoes spread throughout the world, and became very popular in Russia, Italy, Germany, France, England, and eventually in the United States too.
1. What country was the first classical ballet school created in?
2. What language is used for ballet terms?
3. What is one special thing that classical ballet has that other dance forms do not have?
4. What is pantomime?
5. How do dancers make the stage look like a special place from a story?
Lesson 3 Teacher Guide or Home School Resource: An introduction to classical music
Classical music is usually performed with classical ballet, but not always. European “classical music” is different from non-European musical forms because the music is written by a system called staff notation, which the speed and rhythm of the music is written down on paper. They are actually a series of lines, called the staff. The staff has round circles drawn onto it, and these circles s are called notes. Notes represent specific sounds. This is actually a classical music language, like you and I speak English and write with the alphabet to make words, musicians write with notes on a staff.
The actual term “classical music” did not come about until very recently, about 200 years ago, in the year 1836. The Oxford English Dictionary actually invented the term “Classical Music.”
The writers of the Oxford English Dictionary were trying to describe a specific period of time the “golden age of music” during which time some the world’s greatest composers lived and worked, from Johann Sebastian Bach to Ludvig Von Beethoven. Years later, Peter Tchaikovsky, who wrote the music to Swan Lake, was one of the most famous classic music composers ever to come from Russia.
Questions to ask children after reading lesson 3:
1. Who wrote the music to Swan Lake?
2. How do you write down classical music so that people can read it?
3. Where did the term “classical music” come from?
4. Can you name some other classical music composers that you have heard?
This is an example of what staff notation looks like, an actual piece sheet music:
We are about to explore the wonderful world of classical ballet and learn all about one of the most famous ballets ever created, Swan Lake. Through our 40 minute DVD “Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake” you will learn the story of Swan Lake and learn some basic ballet steps too. Our show features real professional ballet footage narrated by a cartoon ballerina so children can easily follow the story. This teacher guide or homeschool resource is designed to be enriching, fun and educational. It is a great way to expose children to the classic performing arts.
The Ballet Swan Lake is a gorgeous romantic ballet, which shows how a woman’s grace and beauty is like that of a swan. This ballet is set to music written by Peter Tchaikovsky, and has some of the most expressive, memorable, and graceful movements ever performed on stage.
This lesson plan is designed to be used in conjunction with watching “Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake,” and also as a great introduction before attending a live ballet performance.
Our goal in creating the Prima Princessa series is to inspire the love of ballet in children and grown-ups alike, and to encourage everyone to get up and dance and then to go see live ballet in the theater.
Grade Level(s): pre-school to 5th grade
Overview: The first lesson in this teacher guide or home school resource will introduce students to the classic ballet Swan Lake and classical music in general. This lesson can also be used to teach children basic dance moves if an appropriate space is available.
Objectives of this Guide:
Students will:
• Learn the story of Swan Lake and something about where it came from
• Learn about the main characters of the story
• Identify the music composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky and his other works
• Understand that classical ballet is a creative way to tell a story through music and movement
• Become familiar with the history of ballet and classical music
• Learn how to develop an appreciation for ballet and classical music
We recommend playing our DVD “Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake” in conjunction with this written guide.
While viewing the DVD, students will be able to do basic dance movements, which will enhance their appreciation of ballet. These moves are demonstrated by a combination of pre-school children and pre-teen ballet students from School of American Ballet, the official academy of the New York City Ballet.
Procedure:
1. It is recommended that this lesson of this teacher guide or home school resource be done in 3 parts and done over 3 days in conjunction with viewing the DVD. The “Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake” DVD is divided into 3 parts each featuring one Act from the show and each running about 10. Spend approximately 10 minutes discussing concepts in the related lesson plan section and then watch a section of the show with the class.
2. If possible, clear a space for children to dance along with the show or set up a screen in the school gym.
LESSON ONE: The Story of Swan Lake
Students will learn story of Swan Lake.
LESSON TWO: An Introduction to classical ballet students will learn how stories can be told verbally, musically and through physical movement.
LESSON THREE: An introduction to classical music, students will learn a brief history of classical music and classical composers.
Lesson One: The origin and story of Swan Lake
A famous Russian composer named Peter Tchaikovsky wrote Swan Lake in 1875. The legend of the Swan-Maiden goes back thousands of years. Beautiful women who turn into birds were popular themes for stories all over the world, and the swan was the most popular one because of its grace when swimming in the water.
Swan Lake tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer’s curse.
Swan Lake: Act I
It is a beautiful Spring day and Prince Siegfried arrives in the palace courtyards and celebrates his birthday with townspeople and other royalty. During the party, his mother gives him crossbow and tells him that because he is of age now, must get married. Then he takes his new crossbow and goes to the woods with his hunting buddies.
Swan Lake: Act 2
Prince Siegfried finds himself a quiet spot in the forest by an enchanted lake, Swan Lake. While Siegfried watches, he sees the most beautiful swan of all, it’s the queen of the swans. As dusk falls, the swan turns into the most beautiful young woman he has ever seen. Her name is Odette, the Swan Queen. She tells the prince that an evil sorcerer, Von Rothbart, has turned her and the other girls into swans and that the lake was formed by the tears of their parents’ who miss them so much. Von Rothbart is part black owl and part evil sorcerer.
She tells him that the only way the spell could be broken is if a noble prince pledges his dieing love to her. The Prince, about to confess his love for her, is quickly interrupted by the evil sorcerer Von Rothbart. He takes Odette from Prince Siegfried and commands all of the swan maidens to leave.
Swan Lake: Act 3
The next day is Prince Siegfried’s big birthday party. It’s a huge ball where princes and princesses from all over the land come to celebrate his birthday. Many beautiful princesses come to the party hoping that the Prince will choose them to be his new wife. Although the princesses are lovely, he cannot stop thinking about Odette, the Swan Queen. His mother the Queen commands him to choose a bride, but he cannot. Then something terrible happens. While he is dancing, the evil Von Rothbart arrives and brings his daughter, Odile to the party. He has cast a spell on Odile to make her look just like Odette. The prince instantly falls for this mysterious woman in black, as he dances with her. Oh, no, he thinks she is the Swan maiden from the lake…. He is falling for the wrong girl! It’s a trick…The Prince is being tricked by the evil sorcerer.
Little does he know, the real Odette is watching him from a window. The prince soon confesses his love to wrong girl, thinking that she is Odette. To Odette’s horror, she flies away into the night. Prince Siegfried sees the real Odette flying from the window and realizes he made a terrible mistake. Von Rothbart tells the prince the truth that this is his daughter Odile. Prince Siegfried quickly leaves the party and chases after Odette in hopes that he can make things right again.
Swan Lake: Act 4
Odette flew back to the lake and joined the rest of the girl swans. She is so sad. Prince Siegfried arrives during a terrible storm and searches for his deal Odette. He looks all through the flock of swans until he finally finds her.
He explains to Odette that the evil Von Rothbart tricked him and she forgives him. The strength of true love prevails and Odette and all the swan maidens are human again are free to go back to their loving families. Odette and Seigfired can now marry and live happily ever after.
Questions to ask children after reading lesson One:
1. Who wrote Swan Lake?
2. Who are the two main characters in Swan Lake that fall in love?
3. Who is the evil character that casts a curse on the maidens?
4. What is the evil curse?
5. How does Swan Lake end?
Important Teacher or Parent Note: It is important to note that there are different versions of Swan Lake. “Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake” DVD features a happy ending but many version have a tragic ending depicting suicide.
In the traditional Russian version, it has a happy ending where Odette and Seigfired defeat the evil Von Rothbart and live happily ever after. In some versions however, the end is tragic like Romeo and Juliet where the love stuck couple plunge to their death in the lake. In other versions there is a mighty battle where Seigfried dies and then Odette commits suicide out of sadness for losing Seigfried. Therefore if you are bringing a small child to a performance of Swan Lake, make sure you know which version it is before hand, so you can prepare your child.
Lesson 2 of Teacher Guide or Home School Resource : An introduction to classical ballet
Classical ballet is the most formal ballet style and requires years of practice and training. Classical ballet is most known for pointe work, which is when a ballerina goes up on the point of her toes in “toe-shoes.” Dancing on your toes in toe-shoes make the ballerina look like she is floating, and flying, effortlessly almost like magic. So, dancing in toe-shoes is a very special thing that is only found in Classical ballet.
Did you ever wonder why ballet terms are all in French? Well, it’s because classical ballet comes from France, and the original French words are still used to day in dance classes all over the world, no matter what language you speak.
The first official classical ballet school and classical ballet company were formed about 400 years ago, in France by King Louis XIV. Back then there was no cable TV, no movies, no CD players, ipods or Radio stations. People entertained themselves by performing for each other, and the most special place of honor to perform was for the King in his court.
To encourage more dance and better dance, the King of France, created the ballet school Academie Royale de Danse and the Ballet de l”Opera, better know today as the Paris Opera Ballet. He then built the Paris Opera Theater where the Paris Opera Ballet would perform for all the French noble men and visitors.
Did you ever wonder why dancers never speak or sing on stage? Ballet is a way of telling a story through movement. Dancers do not talk on stage. Ballets are often classic storybook tales that are explained through the dancers emotions and movements, and this is called pantomime. Each classical ballet tells a story, often a love story, but instead of words dancers use their entire bodies to express themselves. When they are sad, they move very slowly and sadly to slow and sad music, and when they are happy their entire bodies jump for joy and show happiness to quick moving fun music.
Classical ballet is performed on a stage, in front of an audience, usually with a live orchestra of musicians playing their instruments in the orchestra pit in front of the stage. On the stage, there will be stage sets and lights. By using sets and lighting the stage can look like any place the designer wants; for example sets can make a stage look like a forest in one act and then be changed to like a castle ballroom in another act.
Ballet dancers have special costumes and make-up to help them look like the characters that they are pretending to be. One type of costume that you often see in Classical Ballet is a tutu. Ballerinas wear tutus fluffy skirts that are often sparkly and quite short so the audience can see their leg and footwork easily. Costumes can transform a ballerina to look like a queen, a fairy, a cat, a doll, anything that the imagination can create.
Classical Ballet and the use of toe-shoes spread throughout the world, and became very popular in Russia, Italy, Germany, France, England, and eventually in the United States too.
1. What country was the first classical ballet school created in?
2. What language is used for ballet terms?
3. What is one special thing that classical ballet has that other dance forms do not have?
4. What is pantomime?
5. How do dancers make the stage look like a special place from a story?
Lesson 3 Teacher Guide or Home School Resource: An introduction to classical music
Classical music is usually performed with classical ballet, but not always. European “classical music” is different from non-European musical forms because the music is written by a system called staff notation, which the speed and rhythm of the music is written down on paper. They are actually a series of lines, called the staff. The staff has round circles drawn onto it, and these circles s are called notes. Notes represent specific sounds. This is actually a classical music language, like you and I speak English and write with the alphabet to make words, musicians write with notes on a staff.
The actual term “classical music” did not come about until very recently, about 200 years ago, in the year 1836. The Oxford English Dictionary actually invented the term “Classical Music.”
The writers of the Oxford English Dictionary were trying to describe a specific period of time the “golden age of music” during which time some the world’s greatest composers lived and worked, from Johann Sebastian Bach to Ludvig Von Beethoven. Years later, Peter Tchaikovsky, who wrote the music to Swan Lake, was one of the most famous classic music composers ever to come from Russia.
Questions to ask children after reading lesson 3:
1. Who wrote the music to Swan Lake?
2. How do you write down classical music so that people can read it?
3. Where did the term “classical music” come from?
4. Can you name some other classical music composers that you have heard?
This is an example of what staff notation looks like, an actual piece sheet music:
Ballet Resources for Kids
Prima Princessa Kids Shows with Real Ballet & Ballet Lessons Available On DVD or Download
Prima Princessa Swan Lake
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Dance along and enjoy the fun! Prima Princessa's kids shows feature world-class ballet narrated by an animated ballerina. Practice dance steps you just watched performed on stage with ballet students from the School of American Ballet, the official academy of the New York City Ballet. These Kids Shows for ages 3 to 6. Prima Princessa presents The Nutcracker features the England's Birmingham Royal Ballet, Prima Princess presents Sleeping Beauty features the Royal Ballet of London, Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake features the Paris Opera Ballet. Be a Ballerina Now with Prima Princessa!
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