posted December 16, 2001 11:13            

American Ballet Theatre will open the Orange County Performing Arts Center's 2002 International Dance Season with "Swan Lake" February 12-17.

Casting, as announced by OCPAC:

Tue, 2/12 eve Julie Kent/Jose Manuel Carreno
Wed, 2/13 eve Ashley Tuttle/Ethan Stiefel
Thu, 2/14 eve Paloma Herrera/Marcelo Gomes
Fri, 2/15 eve Nina Ananiashvili/Julio Bocca
Sat, 2/16 mat Gillian Murphy/Jose Manuel Carreno
Sat, 2/16 eve Irina Dvorovenko/Maxim Belotserkovsky
Sun, 2/17 mat Nina Ananiashvili/Julio Bocca

For tickets, visit www.ocpac.org

posted January 02, 2002 12:25            

I myself am looking forward to catch as many performances as I can to compare the casts. It seems I have some kind of cosmic connection with "Swan Lake," with always a big production coinciding with decisive moments of my personal life. The melodramatic deaths at the end of the ballet can take on so many different interpretations, depending on the cast, sometimes even bringing chuckles to audience members if not coached properly.

posted January 20, 2002 12:28            

Not that I'm such a geek that the only reason I wanted to see this wonderfully classical ballet is because of Ethan Stiefel. I'm still excited to be seeing it, no matter what.

posted January 20, 2002 07:56            

I can't answer your question. However, in a previous interview with him, he did mention his knees.

Here is the interview if you wish to read it:

posted February 06, 2002 23:07            

I have a copy of “Why a Swan? Essays, Interviews, & Conversations on ‘Swan Lake’” compiled by Janice Ross and Stephen Cobbett Steinberg. This little gem is San Francisco Performing Arts Library and Museum Journal No. 1 from 1989 and is basically the papers from a symposium of the same name (“Why a Swan”) held in conjunction with the premiere of Helgi Tomasson’s production of “Swan Lake” in their 1988 season.

I’ve only started reading this (squeezing it in between my homework readings) but I’ve liked it so far. It’s 11 essays with such juicey titles as “The White Swan Adagio” (John Mueller), “Pattern and Meaning in Tchaikovsky” (Roland John Wiley), “Twenty-One Years of ‘Swan Lake’” (Cynthia Gregory), and so forth.

Here’s from “Beauty as a Moral Wish” by Joan Acocella.

“Ballet people often a talismanic ballet, a ballet where they feel they received the call to become a ballet person…. For me, however, it was “Swan Lake,” danced at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco…. ‘Swan Lake’ is still, for me, the archetypal ballet, because it deals directly with a tragic sense of life and the relationship of tragedy to pure beauty.

“Other ballets have other messages for us. “The Sleeping Beauty” is a very reassuring ballet; it says that goodness will win…. “The Sleeping Beauty” also says that your government is good... It glorifies power and equates power with goodness. “Coppelia” is a much more democratic and bourgeois ballet. Its message is that the world is a good place, that your town is a good place to live in, and that if you play your cards right, you can make a happy life for yourself. “Coppelia” glorifies wit, curiosity, and individuality. It also glorifies enterprise, the business of making things go your way.

“ ‘Swan Lake’ on the other hand, says that life is not going to work out….The ballet glorifies our ability to project an ideal. It also glorifies the sorrow that is built into life in consequence of our failure to achieve the ideal.”

“ ‘Swan Lake’ make this clear. Siegfried is restless; he turns away from what is reasonable and possible the approved princesses. Instead, he sights this mysterious swan maiden and pledges himself to the irrational. Then comes his failure and the double death. And, finally, in the barge rising, we see the hope of finding some truth beyond the grave—the hope, indeed, that some truth exists, of the kind we could imagine and care about on this side of the grave.”

Acocella then goes on to discuss how the ballet medium itself repeats the sense of continuous striving towards a perfect but unattainable ideal or image of perfection. Here’s more:

“Or consider Odette’s allegro passage in Act II: the passes and the beats and then the pirouettes and chaine turns and then, snap, the final arabesque. It seems to me that this passage is a perfect little conquest, an image of perfection. Balance is a similar miracle—to hoist all that up and hold it there, on one small point.”

“My point, then, is simply that in ballet, by virtue of the dance alone, beauty becomes a moral force, a promise of meaning, the fulfillment of a moral wish”….

We see it in Pavlova’s legacy of romantic morbidity…the dying swans, the languishing chrysanthemums, the girls on their way out because life is not right. Indeed, this idea of the separation between what we have here on earth and what we feel we should have had is responsible for most of ballet’s clichés. At the same time, it underlies what is best in ballet. And ‘Swan Lake’ is my favorite ballet because that is what it is about, directly, overtly, and because it was in ‘Swan Lake’ that I first saw these things.”

This contemplative response is an insightful perspective on a beautiful ballet. I like how she goes from an emotional reaction to an understanding of how the ballet is, in a way, not really about swans and princes, but about ballet itself. “Swan Lake” shows us our very human selves striving after perfection. Failing but also winning by virtue of the act of trying.

I think Acocella’s insight goes further than the Greenbergian formalism of David Michael Levin to a flirtation with post-structuralism. Arlene Croce suggests that we go see “Swan Lake” time and again (excuse me if I accidentally included a few “Swan Lake” haters in “we”) in order to see the “ballet behind the ballet” – the “ideal” of “Swan Lake” that lies behind our experience of every production of the ballet. In this sense, much of the moral force of the striving for perfection that lies at the heart of “Swan Lake” –and the ballet dancer’s art as well—is also our struggle as ballet watchers. A search for the ideal… or perhaps, the Ideal. By the very logic of its every step, “Swan Lake” traps us with within its uncanny aesthetic logic.

posted February 07, 2002 07:13            

The entire Romantic Era concept, as I understand it, was based on striving after an ideal and not attaining it, or not attaining it in the manner originally conceived. Siegfried wants the Swan, he doesn't get her in life, but he gets her in death. But did he really strive after an ideal? He met her by accident. And then another woman comes along and moves her arms similarly, and he is fooled. Silly man. Anyone can see the Odile is not Odette.

I think he rejects the proffered princesses because he wants to find his own, not someone else's idea of what he wants. And, he is obviously bored.

As for Coppelia, I don't agree that it is a happy comfortable ballet. The last Coppelia that I saw showed me the sorrow and longing of Dr. Coppelius, his loneliness and his attempt to assauge that loneliness. We have all been there, I think.

Another ballet that is similar to Swan Lake, at least in basic concept is La Sylphide. James rejects what everyone expects, runs after a wraith, tries to capture her and ends up empty handed. He is a bit less sympathetic than Siegfried, since Siegfried really believed that Odile was Odette. Though I don't see how. He didn't know the woman beneath the undulating arms.

How one can view Sleeping Beauty and arrive at the concept that 'your gov't is good' elludes me, entirely. I think it says 'goodness will triumph'....but the goodness was in the person of the Lilac Fairy, and she is not gov't.

I enjoy Swan Lake because of the beauty of the dancing, the pathos of unattainable love, the wonderful music and the demands on the dancers to convince me of the reality of the whole thing.

But who am I to argue with Acocella?

posted February 07, 2002 21:29            

I’m sure that Acocella has more complex understanding of “Coppelia” and “Sleeping Beauty” and simplifies those ballets in order to help underline that Siegfried and Odette inhabit a moral universe that is fundamentally different from that of Swanilda and Aurora in its hostility and indifference.

Of course “La Sylphide” is a natural comparison; but what about “Romeo and Juliet”? Though their world lacks the supernatural overtones of “Swan Lake” and “La Sylphide” theirs, too, is also fundamentally hostile and they, too, die as a result of a mistake that isn’t really theirs.

Here’s another selection from “Why a Swan?” This essay “The Possible Dream” by Deborah Jowitt takes the New Historicist angle, but she does touch on issues Basheva has raised about Siegfried. Her basic message is that though “Swan Lake” is the ballerinas ballet, it is Siegfried’s story … and in more ways than one.

“But Siegfried (like Solor in “La Bayadere”) is flawed, immature: he cannot tell good from evil, true from false. He can’t seem to see how Odile misappropriates Odette’s steps—that her backbends and swoons, her arabesques and flutterings on the floor, her developpes into arabesque are too quick, too harsh. (Today’s Siegfried’s, faced with today’s Bette Davis-Odiles, really need Benno, who was once, according to Vera Krassovskaya, active during the pas de deux as a counter-advisor to Rothbart…).

“What’s wrong with Siegfried? Well, the larger-than-life allure of both Odette and Odile—which is translated for us as ballerina sheen—confronts him with the only challenging woman (women?) he’s ever met outside of his mother. Perhaps he finds it hard to believe that two such exciting creatures could exist.

“However, one of the buried, enigmatic subtexts of “Swan Lake” seems to me to related to fin de siecle decadence. Odile is rarely played as the helpless pawn of the sorceror; she’s more like a decorous version of the Salomes, the Salammbos, the Cleopatras, and all those “femmes fatales” of nineteenth-century art and literature…who were so vital to Diaghilev repertory.”

“To this scenario which grips us despite its inconsistencies, Odette brings another dimension. Something besides vestiges of the otherworldly, insubstantial nymph colors her image. She is a victim, powerless to achieve her own salvation, dependent on the clear sight and pure heart of a man who loves her. Yet neither her dancing nor her behavior are weak, nor are the actions of her companions. The natural fierceness of pointe technique as well as Ivanov’s endowment—the rippling arms, powerful back, diving penches and steady hopped arabesques that give the effect of gliding, the force of those echappes and passes—do not suggest passive acceptance of her fate. (If the ball hadn’t begun in the afternoon, before darkness released her from her spell, she’d have been a contender).”

I love that term, “ballerina sheen.”

Also, the notion that Odette might have been a “contender.” She is indeed a powerful figure. I recollect that we first see Odette placing herself in front of Siegfried’s hunters to shield her swan maidens. Though a queen, she does not hesitate to sacrifice herself for her flock. Siegfried could have learned a sense of responsibility from her.

posted February 08, 2002 07:11            

I am still thinking about the phrase 'why a swan?' and the answer I get is 'why not a swan?' Swans have a number of attributes we admire. Certainly the natural grace of the body shape. The serenity they seem to exude. We see the smooth glide upon the water, but not the feet busy paddling underneath. And, then there is the beautiful counter-swan image in the reflection upon the water - making it even more surreal.

The lake I ride my bike around has swans and I have spent a good number of years watching them. They never seem to make an awkward move - as long as they are in the water. And every once in a while, just as the viewer is utterly mesmerized by the picture of perfection it is utterly ruined when they turn upside down to investigate under the water. I usually find at that point, I turn away unwilling to have that impressed upon my memory.

As for the hostility of the world toward Siegfried and Odette, between Romeo and Juliet, I find that fairly consistent throughout time and culture. "Everyone loves a lover" is untrue. The world is often dead set against the fruition of love.

Many cultures have fairly complex rituals to keep the lovers separate until the society/family deems the time right. Of course one can cite economic, moralistic and other reasons for this, but the result is the same - a slowing down, or even disruption, of the natural bent of love and fruition. Unless it is within society's rules.

But I wander. Forgive me.

posted February 09, 2002 08:26            

Ripples of Change in ABT’s 'Swan Lake'
Make-overs include more dancing for the sorcerer Rothbart in the version planned for Costa Mesa.

By CHRIS PASLES, Times Staff Writer

quote:

---

With a new introduction and new choreography for Acts 1 and 4, audiences will be seeing a very different "Swan Lake" on Tuesday when American Ballet Theatre dances at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa.
Artistic director Kevin McKenzie says the biggest make-over will be given to the role of the evil sorcerer Rothbart. A largely non-dancing part in other productions, the character will actually have solos. During the overture he'll be seen seducing Odette and turning her into a swan and he will be a dominant force in the ballroom scene. The part will be double-cast with one performer as an acting Rothbart and another as a dancing Rothbart.
"He's a huge controlling force in the story," McKenzie said recently from company studios in New York. "I wanted to establish right off, yes, he was the bad guy, but also he was a supernatural being. He had control over mere mortals.

---

posted February 09, 2002 22:48            

In case we haven’t gotten far enough away from the main topic of this thread, I’m going to follow Deborah Jowitt just a little further.

After ruminating about Siegfried’s chuckleheadedness and Odette’s strength of technique like strength of character, Jowitt then switches gear to discuss how Russian historical developments that were occurring at the same time as the Ivanov-Petipa “Swan Lake” might provide a different slant on the ballet.

The Tsarevitch (the heir apparent) turned 21 the year after the premiere of the Ivanov revival of Act II. Also, at about that time Tsar Alexander II’s health began to suffer and that all objections were lifted to the Tsarevitch, Nicholas’, marriage to Princess Alix of Hesse.

“Alexander III died on October 20 [1894]; the marriage of the new Tsar took place a month later; the complete “Swan Lake” was first performed on January 27, 1895.”

“…the ballet makers were, of necessity, responsive to the climate in which they functioned. The dilemma of “Swan Lake,” a slightly unconvincing one to us, yet capable of tearing at our hearts, has to do with the loss of a possible kingdom. Sugary apotheosis notwithstanding, the ballet gently warns its spectators that Siegfried was unprepared to rule—not because he was a dreamer and idealist (that was right; that was why he refused to consider any of the six waltzing clones as brides), but because he was too easily seduced from duty, because he broke his word, because he failed to save that valiant snow white soul of Russia from her enemy.”

If you’re like me—rusty on your Russian history, Jowitt is referring to the teaching that Nicholas II, the last Tsar, and his wife, Alexandra, were frivolous and Nicholas was indecisive and ineffective ruler. That bit about the Tsar’s family objecting to the Tsarevitch’s marriage to Princess Alix (afterwards, Alexandra) was because she was from a small German state, Hesse; but Nicholas really loved her and was determined to have his way. As Tsar Nicholas and Czarina Alexandra, these are the rulers who let Rasputin into court. Talk about chuckleheadedness…

In the world of the Imperial Russian court, the betrothal and marriage of the heir apparent was not just a matter of tabloid and fashionable speculation. The very security of the land depended upon a smooth transition of power and no land had more experience of civil war, pretenders and usurpers of the throne, etc than Russia. When he rejects the 6 “approved princesses,” Siegfried risks much more than his mother’s despair. Like James in “La Sylphide,” Siegfried plunges into the darkness where his fate awaits him in all its grandeur.

But, to return to the topic of this thread … question: how did Orange County get so lucky to have the new and amazing von Rothbart? I’m under the impression that Orange County is a conservative area … listen, its airport is named after the Duke … is this really a good idea?

I’m afraid this will really test my open-mindedness way more than Sylvie Guillem’s “Giselle” did—and I liked her “Giselle.” Even more than the unicorns in the McKenzie “Nutcracker.” My understanding of the story ballets like “Swan Lake,” “La Bayadere,” “Coppelia,” etc depend in part upon the distinction between the characters of mime (like von Rothbart, Grand Brahmin, Coppelius) and those of pure dance (Odette/Odile, Nikiya, Swanilda).

But, that’s the magic of a living art.

posted February 10, 2002 07:10            

Name a ballet in which the mime character is not the deus ex machina (in many cases mostly negative rather than positive).

How did Orange County get so lucky? First of all through the generosity of many private donors like the Segerstrom's. And hundreds of others. But this is true in many places like the mainline aristocracy of Philadelphia.

Is it an accident that a conservative area would enjoy - foster - donate to - attend - nourish - the ballet? Not at all. I myself am guilty of being both a dance lover and a conservative.

posted February 10, 2002 07:53            

There has always seemed to me some questions about Swan Lake....well, that is once one accepts the inherent fantasy - there are questions remaining.

Why does the Queen so quickly, without question, not only allow the presence of these strangers, Von Rothbart and his daughter, to come into her court and take a seat beside her?

Why no king? Tsar Alexander was a powerful monarch. So, if we put this ballet into the political time frame of its creation, why no king in Swan Lake?

Would the story be different had there been a king?

posted February 14, 2002 06:42            

February 14, 2002

DANCE REVIEW
Steps and Missteps
The American Ballet Theatre's performs Kevin McKenzie's streamlined vision of 'Swan Lake'

By CHRIS PASLES, Times Staff Writer

quote:

---

For a few moments, Kevin McKenzie's new "Swan Lake" ventures into deep, dangerous and fascinating waters. The American Ballet Theatre artistic director shows the evil sorcerer Rothbart dominating the court in Act III through his sexual magnetism, evoking the irrational power of erotic attraction by luring away the four princesses from their cavaliers.
McKenzie prepares for this moment by staging the introduction to the ballet, which Tuesday opened a six-day run at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. We see Rothbart first as a ram-horned creature who transforms himself into a handsome courtier to attract, abduct and change the heroine Odette into a swan. (Rothbart the creature and Rothbart the courtier are danced by two different dancers.) How much her own desire makes her complicit in the change may be a moot point. Innocence, as we will also see in the case of the ballet's hero Prince Siegfried, is pretty helpless in this world of passion.

---

posted February 15, 2002 12:53            

Odette/Odile: Ashley Tuttle
Siegfried: Gennadi Saveliev
Benno: David Hallberg
Von Rothbart: Brian Reeder and Carlos Molina

As the reviews mention, von Rothbart, as choreographed by Kevin McKenzie, is a brilliant role. Being relatively new to ballet, and entirely new to "Swan Lake" (besides knowing the general story-line), I thought that von Rothbart always out-shone Siegfried. Chills danced down my spine during von Rothbart's solos. He was a powerful, magnetic dancer who seduced the audience as well as the characters on-stage.

Siegfried. Is it me, Mr. McKenzie's choreography, or does he not get to dance very much at all? Of course, I wasn't duly impressed by the man playing him. He was competent enough but he was consistently showed up by the other male dancers (von Rothbart and Benno in particular).

Ashley Tuttle is a gorgeous dancer. Absolutely beautiful. Except, and this is my main complaint for the two stars, she seemed rather dull. She fixed a single expression on her face and it remained through-out the entire performance. So, while her dancing was entirely flawless, I felt she lacked the emotion behind it. The only time she really threw herself into the dancing was during the Black Swan Pas De Deux, and even then, she still appeared to be holding back.

David Hallberg as Benno was superb. Not only did he have more dancing than Siegfried, all of his dancing was more thrilling than Siefried's. When they two were on-stage, your eyes naturally roamed towards Hallberg, and Saveliev faded into the scenery.

Let me take a moment to mention the sets, and costumes. The sets were incredible. Rarely have I seen such well done sets (and, even if I'm not a regular ballet-goer, I've been going to musicals since I was very young), and the use of transparent curtains (to set up the lake scenes) was inspiring. Even though I'll love and appreciate ballet no matter what package it is in--stark sets combined with simple leotards is fine with me--a breath-taking package, when done right, enhances the dancing. And this was most certainly done right.

Back to the dancing. Gillian Murphy and Michele Wiles danced with David Hallberg for the Pas de Trois and, for the most part, I felt that Murphy was selling it too much. When she soloed it was fine, and great. She was incredible. But when she was dancing with Wiles and Hallberg, her flair was incongruous with the other two, and she looked very out-of-place. A bit like a scene stealer, to tell the truth. As I said, I appreciated her dancing when she was soloing, as she was absolutely magnificent.

As I said, my main complaint for the entire show was a complete lack of emotion. Except for one, or two, key players (von Rothbart was absolutely brilliant and got a slew of applause), the dancing was very cut-and-dried. Yes, it was danced beautifully. I was unbelievably impressed when it came to the dancing.

But I felt that, as a show, it was lacking. There were times when I got the feeling that the dancers felt they had to do nothing but dance. That they could rely entirely on their dancing to convey the story. Which, though important, of course, is not the case. Since, without the underlying emotion, the dancing comes across as sterile, and cold. It was difficult for me to believe that Odette and Siegfried were in love to the point of suicide, since they'd been almost entirely indifferent to each other except for the dancing. They didn't look like a couple in love; they simply danced well together.

But it was still brilliant. I feel bad complaining, even a little bit (or perhaps it's not so little), because the dancing was truly spectacular.

posted February 15, 2002 01:10            

American Ballet Theater “Swan Lake”
Thursday, February 14, 2002
Music—Tschaikovsky; Chor—Kevin McKenzie after Petipa/Ivanov; Sets and costumes—Zack Brown; Lighting—Duane Schuler

Odette/Odile—Paloma Herrera; Prince Siegfried—Marcelo Gomes; von Rothbart—Ethan Brown & Ricardo Torres

Recent viewing of a McKenzie “Nutcracker” at the Kodak Theater just 2 months ago, naturally leads to wondering about a McKenzie “Swan Lake.” What to make of the new, amazing von Rothbart—one who gets his own variations!

The bottom line from this ballet watcher is a plus on both counts.

Though between the last line and this one a large percentage of readers may have decided that scratching their nails on the nearest blackboard is preferable to finishing these notes, I’ll try not to lose the rest by issuing a qualification: The artistic choices incorporated in the McKenzie “Swan Lake” are worth watching and worth thinking about but not all are worth keeping. This is apparent within the first few minutes of the ballet.

Caveat: if you prefer to be surprised by some of the details, don’t read the whole thing.

The performance begins with a prologue showing von Rothbart completely re-thought. Green hide, capacious chest, and ram’s horn head—this is the Demon Rothbart. He scowls at us then disappears. Odette as a young girl capers along. A tall, elegant man in a goatee appears—Svelte Rothbart. Rothbart accosts Odette and she is interested, but he picks her up in a ballet lift and both disappear. Demon Rothbart reappears holding a struggling swan tucked under one arm. The lights go down on them. It is a perverse refiguring of Leda and the Swan with the ravager as human and the victim as swan.

I didn’t care for this way to begin the ballet. First, showing Odette as an ordinary woman never seemed a good idea to me. But, at least McKenzie avoided the error of the version performed locally a few years ago by the Royal Swedish Ballet, which had the worst possible Odette transformation. After defeating von Rothbart, Odette changed into an ordinary mortal in heeled shoes and a long dress that seem to add about 10 kilos to her weight. My other objection—is simply one of taste. Von Rothbart is shown caressing the swan’s neck in a manner that is almost certainly proscribed by Judeo-Christian law. When the lights go down on them, we don’t want our imaginations to go there.

But, in addition to revealing sexuality to be a major preoccupation of the ballet, the prologue does at least introduce the other main theme, narrativity. Artistic decisions have been made to lend unity between the story and the divertissement. For example, in Act III, the Princesses are given entourages who perform the divertissement.

Perhaps I haven’t been paying close enough attention in the past, but the character dances in Act III always seemed to bring the story to a halt. Not so here: as each Princess is presented to Siegried and the Queen Mother for approval, her entourage performs a character sequence from her land. The Hungarian Princess presented the Czardas; the Spanish Princess presented the Spanish Dance; the Italian Princess, the Neopolitan Dance; and the Polish Princess, the Mazurka. The Czardas and the Mazurka were particularly fun to watch and the dancers looked great in their character costumes. The Spanish dancers, however, looked more like “Nutcracker” Marzipans in their yellow outfits—beanie caps for the boys and Little Bo-Peep shoes for the girls. The Neopolitan duo, Jerry Douglas and Sean Stewart, in outrageous disco shirts and bared chests had what in Soviet productions would be the jester’s job—turns, leaps, jumps, and all manner of manly grand batterie. The Princesses were beautiful in their sumptuous costumes like a revival of a more spacious age. They were Stella Abrera (Hungarian), Marta Rodrigues-Coca (Spanish), Jennifer Alexander (Italian), and Michele Wiles (Polish).

The ballet’s preoccupation with sexuality has always been there as more than a subtext—but this production has accentuated it. For instance, the ballet continuously presents comparisons—certainly between opposites like the Good Girl vs the Bad Girl, the “approved princesses” who stand for duty, honor, and civic accord vs. Odette/Odile who stand for the mysterious, the romantic, and the irrational. These oppositions are repeated within the choreography’s distinction between Odette’s preference for adagio and Odile’s specialty for allegro passages; between the Princesses’ waltz with Siegfried alluding to dance of the social idiom and the classical purity of the grand pdd form like the Black Swan pdd.

But, to traditional thematic oppositions, McKenzie has added the contrast between a deluded and indecisive Siegfried and the animal magnetism of Svelte Rothbart. Consider on the one hand the Prince—one who when faced with the choice of the civic duty (choosing one of the Princesses) or his own heart (Odette)—is the chump, does neither, and loses all. Compare Svelte Rothbart who practically steals the stage from Siegfried. Poor Siegfried who can’t even master the simple phallic object (the crossbow) given him by his mother. Ricardo Torres’ Rothbart by contrast rules the stage the minute he arrives with Odile. He charms the Princesses, dancing a short sequence with each before curtly dismissing them from the stage just in time for the Black Swan pdd.

Did I mention that Rothbart is actually in the Black Swan pdd—as an advisor to Odile. No doubt he whispers such gems as “Odile, try partnered turns!” Odile whispering back, “Yeah! Guys are such suckers for turns!”

There is, BTW, an interesting allusion to the Freudian difficulties of “Hamlet.” Like Gertrude in the famous Olivier version of “Hamlet,” the Queen Mother is played by woman close enough in age (corps girl Rosalie O’Connor) to the Prince to be considered a possible consort. When Svelte Rothbart mesmerisingly kisses the Queen Mother’s hand, he could be Claudius making love to Gertrude. When Svelte Rothbart is able to charm breathless the Princesses so impotently examined by Siegfried, he is making the Freudian triangle considerably more complicated. A Shakespearean moment, indeed.

Yet, I don’t wish to give the impression that this “Swan Lake” isn’t full of traditional values. The Act I pas de trios is danced by Erica Cornejo, Xiomara Reyes, and Herman Cornejo. Erica and Xiomara take turns being Pointe Girl and Turn Girl and Herman Cornejo shows himself a future Svelte Rothbart. In gaiety of spirit and fleetness of steps, this pas de trios is a companion to the “Giselle” peasants pdd. The Cygnets are satisfying in their precision and are sans the drooping shoulder that sometimes creep in during the jumps on the oblique. They are Marian Butler, Karin Ellis-Wentz, Anne Mileswski, and Maria Riccetto.

Though I leave comments on the dancing to the dancer-watchers in the audience, it wouldn’t be right not to make a few comments: Paloma Herrera is amazing as Odile. Her performance exhibits complete command and precision. Breathtaking really. Marcelo Gomes continues to impress me with his partnering. Finally, the swan corps I thought especially fine. They delivered on the promise I suspected from their “Nutcracker” Snowflakes.

Last comments: it is nice to see what looks like a completely booked house. Also, it might be the Valentine’s Day hoopla, but I thought the audience looked especially spiffy this evening.

posted February 15, 2002 10:07            

The cast has already been listed by Jeff so I will just repeat the lead roles: Odette/Odile—Paloma Herrera; Prince Siegfried—Marcelo Gomes; von Rothbart—Ethan Brown & Ricardo Torres.

I have seen a few different variations of Swan Lake and found McKenzie's view to be just fine, nothing to complain about and the addition of the prologue was interesting and helped set up the story for newcomers to the ballet. Von Rothbart's variations were a welcome addition as I really love men's ballet with their powerful leaps and turns.

The costumes and sets were simply sumptious. Absolutely amazingly beautiful.

The dance was incredible also but Paloma Herrera left me cold. Technically there but emotionally not, especially as Odile. Her dancing lacked vulnerability and the lack of fluidity in her arms was particularly noticeable.

Only in the famous exit in Act II with her back to the audience does she use her arms to full effect as wings.

I thought Adam Cooper did a much better job as The Swan emotionally and with better arms in Matt Bourne's version.

As Odette she was much better but still passionless.

I think a ballerina should stand out in her performance from the soloists and corp, but I could see other dancers in the corps that were better swans than Herrera and others that seemed to have her technical ability.

That said I must add, her footwork was impeccable and her balance so very steady. But more is needed. I was always aware that it was Paloma Herrera dancing — and not a Swan Queen.

Jeff said: “ Consider on the one hand the Prince—one who when faced with the choice of the civic duty (choosing one of the Princesses) or his own heart (Odette)—is the chump, does neither, and loses all.”

— but after the princessess were presented to Sigfried at the ball he told his mother he didn’t want any of them, his heart belonged to another.

He made a choice, but was fooled by the magic of von Rothbart and Odette. I didn’t see him as a chump, just a guy in love who didn’t think to ask the questions about how his Swan could be at the ball. Magic blinded him. Ok, he might not be the brightest bulb on the porch but not a chump.

It is probably just me but I didn’t see the animal magnetism of Richard Torres as von Rothbart.

Herman Cornejo as Benno was particularly good in his variations. The height of his jumps for a little guy, was impressive.

Marcelo Gomes was a super Sigfried — a BIG guy who can execute the partnering moves with assurance, lifting Paloma WAY over his head upside down. Never a falter which must have made her feel very secure. He has a powerful, high jump and very soft landing, not a thud to be heard.

I just wish that MacKenzie had added more dance for him when revising the choreography. His acting was good and believable although there weren’t many sparks between the two leads until curtain calls when he actually seemed to be moved by the flower Herrera presented him and the ovations from the crowd.

Speaking of thuds — or rather clattering — the noise of the pointe shoes was deafening at times overpowering the softer moments of the orchestra who sounded too thin most of the time.

This score needs more sound to be really impressive. The fortissimo passages at the end would have been so much more moving if they had just been a bit louder. I was in the orchestra section fairly close to the musicians and needed more volume so I wonder how the folks further away felt.

The clattering of the pointe shoes was very distracting. This was some of the worst I have ever heard. The corps dancing was a bit uneven at times. Even when standing still with their arms folded heads were at different angles, eyes looking in different places, arms at different heights. Arabesques were messy and not uniform.

But I thought they were dancing in the moment and enjoying themselves in all the acts — not just putting in a day’s work.

All in all a very enjoyable evening at the ballet.

posted February 15, 2002 10:22            

Was the casting change annouced or any reason given in the cast notes in the program? If I had bought tickets to see Stiefel and instead saw Saveliev, I would want to know why.

posted February 15, 2002 13:03            

I understand casts are subject to change - it would be nice though, to have a mention of it I think. And with all the strong male principals and soloists they have I am surprised at the choice of a member of the corps. Of course Corella is unavailable as he is dancing in London but there are so many others! Wonder where they all were.

posted February 15, 2002 14:27            

I once saw ABT do Romeo and Juliet with Romeo danced by a member of the corps. I enjoyed it very much. He hadn't yet worked out his understanding of the role and actually I enjoyed that. Seeing the barebones so to speak ....and thinking how he would eventually develop the role. He did go on to become a principal eventually.

Sometimes it can be interesting to see a dancer just starting into a role.