This weekend marks the premiere of a major new production in the repertoire of the National Ballet of Canada: Karen Kain's new version of the immortal classic Swan Lake.
I approached this premiere with an equal mixture of excitement and trepidation. The classics of ballet are continually restaged and reborn in ballet companies around the world, in the same process of revitalization that attends productions of the great classic plays and operas. I was certainly intrigued to see what Kain would bring to a ballet and a role that had been such a central feature of her own career as a dancer. More intriguing still were the advance glimpses behind the scenes which were shared by the National Ballet on its YouTube channel, and can still be viewed there.
On the other hand, since this new version was to be based on Erik Bruhn's version, last danced in the 1990s, I was a trifle fearful of too much stepping backwards instead of moving bravely forward. This, as it turned out, was not a problem at all. This is a powerful, intensely dramatic Swan Lake; it held me enthralled from first to last.
The first and key thing to understand about this production: this is not a pretty fairy tale where "they all lived happily ever after." Some versions of Swan Lake do opt for a happy ending, and the brief, triumphant apotheosis in the final bars of the score seems to indicate that direction, but here we see a darkly tragic Swan Lake which ends with Prince Siegfried dead and Odette, still a prisoner of the malevolent Rothbart, left to mourn him.
It's visually dark too, brooding, ominous, and at times downright terrifying. That description applies above all to Rothbart, clad in monochromatic greys and blacks with huge, enveloping feathered black wings and a makeup treatment on the face that suggests a skull, or a dead body brought back to life after decay. This sorcerer is definitely the stuff of nightmares.
The darkness of this production declares itself right at the outset, during the brief prelude which, musically, introduces the first of the swan themes and the plangent oboe which becomes the signature sound of the swan themes throughout the ballet. In this production, the overture becomes a Prologue in which we see, through a scrim, Rothbart capturing and enslaving Odette and her friends, who will henceforth appear as swans.
"Monochrome" and "dark" are also apt words to describe the sets. Even in the court ballroom of Act III, the elaborate golden decorations are shown merely in outline, with a dark, foreboding sky visible through and between them. To accentuate Rothbart's pivotal role as the puppet master manipulating the entire story, the setting is dominated from time to time by a gigantic pair of wings, modelled on the ones the dancer uses, which slide down from the top of the proscenium to close in and conceal some 35-40% of the view of the stage.
Right from the opening of the work, the dominance of colours in the white-grey-black range can be seen in the costumes too. Touches of other colours in the first scene are few and far between, and even when they do appear these other colours tend to be subdued, their brilliance damped down by a hint of greyness.
The masquerade ball scene of Act III contains the one widespread deployment of varied and luxurious costume colours in the show, and the part of the stage up to the dancers' heads and a bit beyond is brightly lit, accentuating the sumptuous costumes -- although the light is rather on the cold side. Above that point, though, darkness sets in again.
It was the late Erik Bruhn's idea to collapse the entire show into, in effect, two acts by fusing Acts I and II together into a single continuous entity, and similarly joining Acts III and IV. In the days of the ballet's first production, this would have been an utter impossibility, due to the size and weight of fully constructed sets, but with the more suggestive, less literal settings and the modern stage technology used today, the scene change becomes duck soup for the stage hands. I'm sure the dressers are going crazy backstage, trying to get all the women out of their court clothes as quickly as possible, allowing the swan tutus to shine. Both scene changes went smoothly.
Another key element of this production which facilitates the two-act plan (I'm not sure how much of this was inherited from Bruhn), is to use a greatly pared-down version of the score, reducing the overall running time to just 2 hours 10 minutes plus a 20-minute intermission (the original score from 1877 runs for 2 hours 40 minutes in my recording).
The entire design, from sets to costumes, is the work of Gabriela Týlešová. Her work is remarkable for the incredible depth of detail, from colour palettes to intriguing shapes in the sets and from textures to painted-in effects in the "feathered" swan tutus and the fearsome wings of Rothbart. Her costuming for the court scene in Act I places the show in the time period in which the ballet was first produced, the late 1800s. Thus, the costumes for the masquerade sensibly look to a time period which was about a century earlier still, a very likely thing to happen in a party at a royal court.
In the programme notes, Karen Kain insists that the audience sees women, not swans. Strictly speaking, this is perhaps true, but the design vision of Týlešová appeared to be at odds with this very definite statement. The designer and costumers alike have gone to extraordinary lengths to make the tutus appear to be built out of realistic feathers, making these women absolutely the most swan-like swans I've ever seen in the ballet. Of course, the classic choreography accentuates the resemblance with both the body movements and the flexible bending of the arms. I would imagine that most of the audience would, as I did, simply forget Kain's statement and accept the traditional convention that these are indeed swans.
On Saturday afternoon, I saw the second performance of the run, meaning that I saw the first performance of the roles by the principals and featured soloists of this cast. It also means that all of these dancers were making role debuts, since none of them were active in ballet and many were not even born when Erik Bruhn's staging (on which this one is based) last appeared.
Swan Lake, far more than many ballets, is memorable for the dancing of the corps de ballet. The lines of women in white swan tutus form an indelible image in the mind after any performance. On Saturday, the corps turned in a sterling performance in the white scenes of Act II and Act IV, graceful and unified in motion and in stillness alike. As always, the famous Dance of the Little Swans made a delightful highlight. I'd love to credit this quartet by name, but the programme did not clarify which dancers from four pairs of names were dancing in which performances.
When the men joined the women in the court scenes of Act I and Act III, the corps' ensemble dances sparkled with energy while maintaining impressive unanimity in such matters as height of kicks and positions of hand gestures. Only for one moment did I detect a brief uncertainty, and it was remedied almost before I had time to notice. A strong afternoon for the corps de ballet indeed.
Each of the four women presenting herself as a candidate for Siegfried's hand in Act III is supported by two to four other dancers, and these smaller ensembles also all did impressive work. Each of the four women danced captivatingly in her featured solo -- these are the "national dances", Russian, Neapolitan, French, and Spanish, here not merely a sweet and showy divertissement but an integral part of the story. Kudos to Jenna Savella in the Russian Dance, Jeannine Haller in the Neapolitan Dance, Miyoku Koyasu in the French Dance, and Tanya Howard in the Spanish Dance.
Among the few comic moments in Swan Lake is a brief but entertaining little dance for the Queen's Confidante. The programme tells us that Alejandra Perez-Gomez and Rebekah Rimsay trade off in the roles of Queen and Confidante, but not which one dances which role in each performance.
Kota Sato dominated the stage on each appearance as the malevolent Rothbart, drawing all eyes even when he wasn't spreading his massive wings (or the equally huge cape he wears in Act III).
Siphesihle November dominated in another way with his strongly athletic performance as Benno, the Prince's closest friend, owning the stage in each of his featured numbers.
Tirion Law and Brenna Flaherty sparkled as Celia and Elizabeth, Siegfried's sisters. These two characters are an innovation of this production, their names a nod in honour of Celia Franca, the founding artistic director of the company, and Betty Oliphant, first ballet mistress of the company and co-founder of the splendid National Ballet School.
Brendan Saye created a strong impression as Prince Siegfried. Expressive movement and face clearly defined the unrest in the prince's more pensive moments. Saye brought great energy to the faster work in the showpiece numbers, such as his solo in the Black Swan Pas de Deux.
Svetlana Lunkina balanced her interpretation beautifully between the twin roles of Odette and Odile. It's impressive to see a dancer develop both sides of this dual role so effectively. Her Odette came with a flowing grace which entirely suited the character, her arm positions a particular delight. As the evil Odile, her movements became cleaner, harder-edged, lighting up the stage with a glitter where her Odette glowed. The sudden transition back to the drooping, mournful Odette at the beginning of Act IV was especially breathtaking, coming so soon after her malicious glee at Siegfried's oath just moments earlier.
A quick final note: instead of printing all casting information for the entire 2-week run in the already-large house programme, the National Ballet printed the casting for the first 3 days (4 shows) on a separate, single-sheet insert. I hope they will now follow the lead of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in reducing the paper programme still further to a minimal, streamlined version, and including QR codes to link to the more detailed notes and biographies in the company website.
In sum: this new-look Swan Lake beautifully revives tradition and honours it, while giving the show an impressively unified and visually-powerful interpretation. The company's strong team of dancers bring their own considerable strengths to the stage. The result is a Swan Lake that will certainly repay many viewings for years to come.
Swan Lake continues on stage until June 26 at the Four Seasons Centre in Toronto.
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