 Additional choreography by Frederick Ashton and Rudolf Nureyev added a certain interest to the development of the story but could not make up for omissions of well-loved dances.Further, radical changes in sets and costume, designed by Yolanda Sonnabend, evoked muttering among viewers.Costumes for acts 1 and 3, set in the opulence of Romanov Russia in the 1890s, were "festooned with ribbons and golden squiggles" while those for acts 2 and 4 dressed the swans in "champagne ball-gowns rather than pristine white feathers".