Swan expert Julia Newth on Swan Lake

Tchaikovshy's Swan Lake gets it right on swan monogamy and courtshipWatching swans in their natural habitat is like being at the theatre: you get to know the birds as individuals and observe their quirks. In Swan Lake, the dancers are probably meant to be Bewick swans – they're smaller, finer-featured and more elegant than the big Mute swans you see on our canals and rivers. And they migrate to Britain for the winter from arctic Russia, which is where the story of Swan Lake is believed to have...

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