We open beside a silken lake on a summers night. Swan Queen Odette surveys her kingdom. Swans float by in neat lines, obeying their sovereign. Odette remembers the innocent princess she once was.

 

Long ago the Princess Odette swam in the lake with her friends and baby signets played in the shallows at the waters edge. One night, she met a handsome Prince and fell in love, almost breaking the spell that bound her to the deep water.

 

But alas! The evil Sorcerer who had confined her to the lake saw them and sent his obedient pet Crow, disguised as a swan, to steal the Prince away.

 

Odette was heartbroken and tragically began to drown in the lake, despairing. (This is where the original Swan Lake story ends, but where our tale gets interesting…) Just as Odette was nearly perished, the pet Crow turned on it’s master, drowning him instead and passing all his power to the Princess Odette, who was reborn a powerful sorceress and still reigns as Queen.

 

But, Odette is heartbroken and rules with an iron fist, keeping the swans and signets under tight control. The swans rebel, break out of her rigid rules. Odette feels lost.

 

Luckily, the Queen has some brilliant friends who show her how to have fun again, and that she doesn’t need a Prince to be happy. She begins to use her magic to bring colour back and they all throw the best party the lake has ever seen.