A sleeker swan.

WHEN Pennsylvania Ballet artistic director Roy Kaiser asked Christopher Wheeldon to choreograph a new million-dollar production of Swan Lake for the company's fortieth anniversary, Wheeldon didn't blink. In his opinion, every serious ballet choreographer needs to tackle a classic or two in the course of a high-profile career. "And, of course, I chose the mother of all mothers," he says with a laugh. The premiere will run at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia June 4-12 with a rotating cast of three principal couples.

A Royal Ballet alumnus, Wheeldon has always loved Swan Lake, especially the music. "Tchaikovsky was so successful in telling a story musically and conjuring up characters through the themes in the music--from the magical atmosphere of the lake to the brassy pomp of the royal court," he says. "It touches people in a human way--even non-ballet audiences."

So how does he plan to refresh a ballet that has been staged in countless mind-numbing productions? Wheeldon wants to infuse contemporary sensibility into the traditional choreography. "The story is timeless, but there are ways to invest something a little more current into the themes of the story," he says. Wheeldon won't be tampering too much with the signature white swan and black swan pas de deux, although he claims that the second act is fair game in terms of altering the order of the primary dance passages. "The third act is where I will be playing around the most with the story," he says. "The choreography will not deliver traditional character dances." No music will be interpolated, but some will be cut to offer a sleek production with two intermissions.

The set design by Adrianne Lobel consists of a single-unit structure enhanced through projections, and lighting by Natasha Katz that will shift scenes and moods. Wheeldon promises that the ballet is set in a specific time and place; beyond that, he's revealing few details. "We're not doing heavy Gothic castles and forests with lakes in the back. We're going for something cleaner and more streamlined," he says. Jean-Marc Puissant, a former dancer who collaborated with Wheeldon on Tryst for the Royal Ballet, has designed the costumes.

Wheeldon warns that, apart from elements sacred to the ballet, this will not be a conventional Swan Lake. "It's important to me to present it in a way that is surprising and different," be says. "I think I have a responsibility as a choreographer of today to not just stage a completely traditional Swan Lake."

EDITED BY ALLAN ULRICH