When audiences hear the Swan Lake theme, they expect a tale of passion, betrayal and heartbreak, but circus company Circa has taken the story asked: what if Odette was an ugly duckling?
Duck Pond mashes up Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairytale with the brooding Russian ballet to tell the story of a swan, who believes she is an ugly duckling.
At a royal birthday party, a prince falls madly in love with the fowl but all their plans go out the window when the infamous black swan makes her appearance.
Throughout the show, Circa's artistic director Yaron Lifschitz uses new music inspired by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's original score as a backdrop for 21st century ideas of chaos and confusion.
Swan Lake is a story that has been kept to the confines ballet for too long, according to Lifschitz.
The director hopes his fantastical circus aerials and spinning cyr wheels will inject a new element of humour and anarchy into the classic story.
Where viewers expect pristine tutus and precise pointe work, circus performers in haute couture will greet them with explosive acrobatic feats, leaving bursts of feathers in their wake.
Instead of a meticulously synchronised troupe of cygnets, Lifschitz unleashes an army of flipper-wearing ducks onto the stage while a burlesque black swan seduces the audience.
Duck Pond premieres at QPAC's Playhouse in Brisbane on Wednesday.
