Pennsylvania Ballet took a risk that refreshed the waters of a little ballet tradition known as Swan Lake.

With the help of choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, the Pennsylvania Ballet was able to combine tradition and a contemporary audience together to create a fresh, million-dollar version of Swan Lake for its 40th anniversary season.

The ballet, accompanied by its professional orchestra, will take place at 7:30 Wednesday in Eisenhower Auditorium.

"Creating a new version of Swan Lake is to him like resetting an old diamond heirloom into a contemporary setting," Wheeldon said in a recent press release.

Roy Kaiser, Pennsylvania Ballet artistic director, described the resetting as a ballet that uses the original score, story line and some of the original choreography, but was recreated into a performance for 2004.

"Wheeldon took this classic and turned it into a ballet that works today," Kaiser said. "It was made for a new audience. More importantly, it was made for today's dancers who are a lot different than the original dancers of this ballet."

The first act is told by looking into a very Degas-like ballet studio, and then continuing to drift in and out of reality and fantasy. Wheeldon was inspired by Degas paintings that portrayed ballerinas surrounded by patrons backstage.

Despite the differences, the similarities are obvious. The staging is very traditional and the dancing in the second and fourth acts is the original choreography, but the majority of the third act is new, Kaiser said.

"Wheeldon found a way to seamlessly tell the story through dancing," Kaiser said. "Normally in a ballet the dancing doesn't advance the plot. The dancing stops and there are blocks of pantomime that are used to tell the story. Wheeldon forces your eye to follow the movement. He uses very little pantomime and tells the story though his choreography."

The company took a big risk by spending $1 million on a ballet, an investment that helped provide elaborate costumes and realistic scenery, Kaiser said. The water is portrayed by painted backdrops that hang from all of the wings, which Kaiser added helps to draw the audience into the fantasy.

"It is a difficult time in the arts to take such a big risk and make such a commitment to a project," Kaiser said. "We decided not to just do the easy thing, and the payoff was phenomenal. We took the leap and were able to take our audience along for the ride."

So what brings such a successful project to Penn State?

"We performed here before and enjoyed it. We decided that it was really something that we wanted to do again," said Roseanne Capaccio, Pennsylvania Ballet public relations coordinator.

In fact, the ballet has a historical connection to the area.

"In the late '70s the company would tour at Penn State annually. We historically had a wonderful following here," Kaiser said. "We would like to see it build up again."

Laura Sullivan, Center for Performing Arts marketing and communications director, said the venue is thrilled to be able to welcome the Pennsylvania Ballet back to its stage.

"One of the best features of the PA Ballet, in addition to their incredible grace and beauty, is the fact that they tour with their own orchestra," Sullivan said. "Most ballet companies that we present dance to recorded music. The live orchestra makes the performance even more enjoyable."

Swan Lake is just the start of a great season that includes 28 performances. Eight performances of the Broadway show Mamma Mia will follow Swan Lake, Sullivan said.

"We're very excited about this season," Sullivan said. "All of the events are special but I would have to say that several stand out as highlights this season and are really not to be missed."

Kaiser agreed that this in an event that should attract some attention.

"There is nothing like it that ballet goers have ever seen before," Kaiser said. "It truly is a Swan Lake for today."