Swan Lake in Popular Culture
Explore below how various takes on Swan Lake have risen to the surface within popular culture, from music videos to movies to TV shows, highlighting the ballet’s simultaneous staying power and adaptability.
In Taylor Swift's music video "Shake it Off" Swift encourages listeners to not care and about what people say and dance the way you want. Swift is seen in the music video among professional ballet dancers in Swan Lake - like costumes. The professional dancers are graceful and delicate, while Swift is awkward, and clunky. Image courtesy: YouTube
In Revenge of the Sith, episode 3 there is a scene at the Galaxies Opera. The performance resembles Swan Lake, however the performers are squid-like creatures. Fans of the Star Wars Franchise named this performance "Squid Lake" as an homage to the original "Swan Lake." Image Credits:
"Swine Lake" is a Muppets Parody on "Swan Lake" starring Miss Piggy. In "Swine Lake," Miss Piggy is transformed into a pig rather than a swan.
In the movie "Billy Elliot" (2000) Billy is a young boy who pursues his love of dance and ballet despite stereotypes of boys doing ballet. At the end of the film, he is seen grown up performing the lead role in Matthew Bourne's all-male version of Swan Lake. image courtesy:
In the 2016 Movie High Strung, a Barroom dance-off ensues that features a combination of classical ballet, hiphop, tap, and contemporary dance. The girls perform Dance of the Little Swans on top of a table inside a bar.