Swan Lake
By: Ping Zhu
Publisher: Nobrow Press, United Kingdom, 2014
Format: Leporello
A day at the ballet
Usually, when ballet is portrayed in children´s books, it´s by small girls in pink tutus, but this leporello is in another league. The motiv is Pyotr Tchaikovsky´s famous "Swan Lake". One side of the book shows all the backstage hustle and bustle and the daily life of ballet dancers: Stretching, taking directions, rehearsing, doing make up, flirting, calming nerves, chatting, resting, waiting. It takes a lot of different people to make a performance, demonstrated by illustrations of the seamstress, the director, the dresser and many other interesting professions.
The other side of the book shows the performance, with beautiful dancers dancing the famous "pas de quatre" center stage in a traditional opera theatre. There is a "corpse the ballet" in the background, and a full orchestra playing live music. So far a pretty realistic picture of what a ballet performance can be like, until we take a closer look at the audience: Inbetween the people in the audience are all kinds of animals: a moose, a dog, bears, cows, a horse, a fox, a penguin - just to mention a few. This adds whimsy and fun to the book.
The choice of leporello as the format brings great value to the book. It gives a sense of fluidity to the storytelling, but with this particular theme, the different options for folding the book also gives so many visual opportunities: It can be folded to see the infodesk only, the audience only, rehersals only... The book also makes a beautiful decoration if you unfold the performance side of the leporello, perfect for any aspiring ballet dancer´s room.
Zhu has drawn the illustrations mainly in blues and oranges. The few complimentary colors adds extra interest to the illustrations, creating fun and vivid scenes. There is no text at all on the leporello itself, the title, author info and also some facts about the Swan lake is printed on the folder the leporello is presented in. This is a lovely solution, a nod to the tradition of Enzo and Iela Mari.
Zhu is an accompliced illustrator that has published severeal books. With this title, she takes the concept of "ballet book" to another level, creating a gem that will cherished by ballet lovers of both sexes and all ages.
