Swing Lake

SWING LAKE
Xavier McGettigan

Swing Lake is an adaptation of Swan Lake, re-imagined into the swing era of the early 20th centruy. Tchaikovsky's iconic score rearranged to swinging big band jazz (think Glenn Miller, Count Basie, Benny Goodman), ballet swapped out for jazz dance, tutus and tights replaced by pinstripe suits.

Xavier McGettigan will create original jazz choreography to a score arranged for big band by Daniel Heskett, both creatives living in the Geelong region and working there in the arts.

An eventual, fully developed production of Swing Lake would be presented much like the ballet, but feature a live big band (5 saxes, 4 trombones, 4 trumpets and rhythm section), dancers in swing era attire that references the ballet's characters and a town hall dance/art deco-inspired minimal set.

Swing Lake as a concept offers ADC the opportunity to develop a project that would have wider audience appeal than the more niche field of dance theatre usually affords. The perception of Swan Lake as a popular work of dance creates an opportunity for the company to be viewed as something different than the many dance schools in the region, creating work to be seen by the general public as opposed to just the immediate community of the performers themselves.

Another goal of the project is to explore the benefit of live music for dance, collaborating closely with an arranger to make music and dance designed to work together. Usually with dance you're stuck with recorded music, requiring choreography to be moulded to the existing musical structure. Daniel and Xavier are excited to work with one another in this environment as both are musicians, creating an ease of cross-disciplinary communication.

Xavier McGettigan Bio

Xavier is the director of Attitude Dance Company, having created many dance works for the company since 2009, including Perfect Pairing, recipient of support from Geelong Arts Centre's Creative Engine grant and support to perform the work at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, resulting in a sold-out season at Greenside's Olive Studio in 2023.

He has also recently performed in 'a/lone', an original physical theatre work which recently completed a Victorian tour as part of the VCE Drama playlist. Xavier works professionally as a choreographer and dance teacher, predominantly in the Geelong region, and he was awarded Best Director and Best Production of a Comedy for Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency with Geelong Repertory Theatre Company.