Swan Lake: An Irish Ballet

By Edna Aucamp and Gunter Rau

SWAN LAKE is the true journey of ODETTE's Swan Family through tragedy into wonder, with the passion and devotion of Dr.Gunter Rau who braved the rescue of her eggs from the grasp of a terrible April storm. After a five week incubation period, two beautiful cygnets hatched from the batch of nine eggs he salvaged. Reintroduced to their mother ODETTE she eventually accepted them as her own. As soon as the swan father saw the little just hatched swans united with their mother, he immediately started fulfilling his role in nurturing them.

From April to August 2013 the fate of this swan family was followed up weekly, documented and photographed to monitor the progress of the only two hatched cygnets, their safety being the main concern. They survived their endangered first days of life, until after 10 weeks they have grown into real little swans. The study and images of this swan family are unique in this field and of incomparable value.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Nov 26, 2013
• ISBN: 9781481789172

Edna Aucamp

The mutual authorship is founded upon the admiration and love of swans, and fascination with the grace and beauty of these brave big birds. Dr. GUNTER RAU (Free University Berlin), originally a Forester, later University Lecturer and Museums Director. EDNA AUCAMP (University of Pretoria/South Africa), Scientist, lover of nature and beauty. The studies took place at an Irish lake in 2013, reviewed in relation to the most famous Tchaikovsky ballet SWAN LAKE (1876). The performance of the prima ballerina ODETTE is in fact a real swan with the dramatic fate to have only two cygnets saved for her final dance.

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© 2013, 2014 Gunter Rau. All rights reserved.

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Published by AuthorHouse 03/07/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4817-8916-5 (sc)

978-1-4817-8917-2 (e)

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SWAN LAKE is one of the most beautiful and poignant classical ballets of all times, based on Russian-German folktales, with music composed in 1876 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. ODETTE, an enchanted princess under the terrible spell of the evil sorcerer Von Rothbart, is transformed into a swan by day and changed back to her beautiful human form at night. The curse can only be broken by eternal true love. In the original 1877 ballet, prince Siegfried falls in love with Odette and defeats Von Rothbart, breaking his cruel spell. Odette is restored to her human form through Siegfried’s eternal love. This ending is performed in a true story upon an Irish lake, where love unfolds in a dramatic encounter with a female swan I named ODETTE.

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