CinéLive presents
A timeless tale. For the first time in front of a cinema screen.
Swan Lake
Premiere · November 6, 2026 · Kinepolis Antwerpen, Antwerpen
Live dancers, immersive sound, and a cinematic backdrop no classical theatre can match. Swan Lake, as never seen before.
The story
Driven by the desperate need to save his dying daughter, Odile, the sorcerer Rothbart strikes a dark, Faustian pact with Chyort, the demon of the lake. But the magic is flawed; it saves Odile's life, only to trap her in a haunting, permanent limbo: half-awake, half-asleep.
Enraged by his failure, and driven to madness by the pure-hearted Odette’s rejection of his obsessive adoration, Rothbart unleashes his newly granted powers in an act of ultimate psychological cruelty. He curses both Odette and her lover, Prince Siegfried, to transform into swans, but binds them to opposite timeframes. Odette is condemned to take flight by day, and Siegfried by night. Trapped in a devastating cycle of eternal yearning, the two lovers are permitted to share their true human form only twice a day: during the fleeting, heartbreaking moments of sunrise and sunset.
This is Swan Lake stripped of fairy-tale innocence; a relentless, high-stakes psychological drama of desperate bargains, dark obsession, and an eternal love suspended in time.
A note from · Björn Dobbelaere
Artistic Director
When Geert Allaert and I first sat down to re-imagine Swan Lake, our primary objective was to strip away the traditional narrative filler and create a relentless, highly focused 90-minute theatrical experience. We wanted to honour Tchaikovsky’s magnificent score while subverting the story to find a deeper, more visceral human truth beneath the fairy tale.
For us, that began with Rothbart. Rather than presenting a generic, black-and-white villain, we chose to explore the tragic depths of a desperate father. His Faustian pact with Chyort, the demon of the lake, is born out of a devastating necessity to save his dying daughter, Odile. This transactional magic leaves Odile suspended in a haunting limbo—half-awake, half-asleep—and ignites a vengeful fury within him. This fury is compounded in equal measure by Odette’s outright rejection of his profound, consuming adoration for her physical and psychological beauty. Spurned and enraged, Rothbart directs his newly granted powers squarely at Odette and Siegfried.
By grounding the magic in raw human emotion, the stakes are raised for everyone on stage. This culminates in a radical departure from the traditional ending. The curse Rothbart inflicts upon the lovers is one of ultimate psychological cruelty: a chronological displacement, as Siegfried is also cursed to become a swan.
Bound to opposite timeframes—Odette transformed into a swan by day, and Siegfried by night—they are trapped in a cycle of eternal yearning. The two lovers are permitted to share the same human form only during the fleeting, heartbreaking transitions of sunrise and sunset.
This production bridges classical heritage with a contemporary cinematic momentum. It has been a privilege to shape this vision alongside an extraordinary international creative team, and we are thrilled to welcome you into this darker, more intimate world.
Creative team
Sasha Evtimova
Choreographer / Director
Sasha Evtimova is an international ballet artist, choreographer, and pedagogue who specialises in bridging classical and contemporary dance styles. Throughout her career as a performer, she has built an artistic voice rooted in expression and discipline, collaborating with numerous companies and artists globally. Notably, she has been heavily involved with the National Opera and Ballet of North Macedonia as both a performer and choreographer, contributing choreography to major opera productions like Rigoletto, La Traviata, and Turandot, alongside creating modern ballet works like La, La, La.... In addition to her performance and creation work, which includes staging contemporary projects like The Silent Absurd, Evtimova is a dedicated dance educator and mentor focused on nurturing upcoming generations of dancers.
Bjorn Dobbelaere
Music Supervision
With over twenty-five years of experience spanning musical theatre, opera, and theatre, Björn Dobbelaere is an accomplished conductor, musical director, and stage director. An Honorary Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) in London, where he previously served as Head of Musical Theatre, his extensive international credits include The Phantom of the Opera (London), Oliver! (Göteborg), Infernal Affairs (Shanghai), Les Misérables (London), Miss Saigon (Göteborg), Carousel (London), Soldaat van Oranje (Amsterdam), Spring Awakening (Shanghai), Wicked (Göteborg), and Little Women (London).
Olgica Gjorgieva
Costume designer
Olgica Gjorgieva is a prominent Macedonian fashion and costume designer renowned for her elegant, feminine aesthetic and highly conceptual presentations. Based in Skopje, she has become a celebrated figure across the Balkans, showcasing her collections frequently at major industry events like Fashion Weekend Skopje. Her work seamlessly bridges the worlds of haute couture, performance, and narrative design. She is particularly noted for theatrical, story-driven runway collaborations that blend high fashion with expressive movement, often drawing inspiration from classic fairy tales and historical structures to create fluid, dramatic silhouettes on stage.
Practical
- Length
- 90 min
Music and source
- Composer
- Pjotr Iljitsj Tsjaikovski
- Libretto
- Geert Allaert & Bjorn Dobbelaere, based on the original 1877 libretto by Vladimir Begichev
With support from