Watching ballet live is very different than seeing it on film or television. It’s noisy, for one thing, the patter of feet on the wooden stage sometimes rising above the orchestral music. It’s also more athletic than what you might imagine. To see a great performance from a master like Rudolf Nureyev in your lifetime is something you never forget. And the story can transport you. Those are perhaps several reasons why Swan Lake is perennial favorite. This month, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s iconic ballet will be performed by the Russian National Ballet at the Kauffman Center as part of the Harriman-Jewell series on January 23 at 7:30 pm. Since its premier at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow in 1877, this ballet has told the story of Odette, a princess who turned into a swan because of an evil sorcerer. Prince Siegfried falls for her, but as in real life, the path of true love never runs smooth. Over the past 150 years, ballet companies have exercised creative license with the ending. How will this Swan Lake end?