Delivery
and Text
"Swan
Lake"
American Ballet Theatre
Opera House
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, DC, USA
February 8, 2005
by
George Jackson
copyright
© 2005 by George Jackson
ABT looked good, but did the ballet? Scenically, yes. This five-year
old "Swan Lake" has a brighter setting than many another production.
Once the brief prologue's forest depths are done with, no medieval gloom
envelops the action and dancing. Zack Brown's pallet has something of
Watteau's pastels for the three big outdoor scenes and an airy Historicism
for the castle's grand hall, the only indoor location. Nowhere did the
stage space and vistas contradict the sweep of the Tchaikovsky music,
although the scene-change scrim of trees is annoyingly flimsy.
The cast for this performance, which was being filmed for future television
showing, seemed specially chosen. Partners and ensembles had been meticulously
size-matched. Everyone looked polished to the hilt and nearly everyone
was right as to role type. Attack and delivery were fresh throughout,
never did the dancing appear studied.
Highlights of Act 1 were the pas de trois and the Prince Siegfried solos.
In the trio, Herman Cornejo (as Benno, Siegfried's confidant and squire)
and his two ladies, Xiomara Reyes and Erica Cornejo, were crisp, bright,
buoyant. He was his virtuoso self, yet never a show off. (Would, though,
he'd wear a more brow-revealing hairdo.) Neither of Cornejo's partners
had I pictured before as flowers opening, but such was their gentle strength.
Angel Corella's Siegfried arched impressively into the air, passed pliantly
through landings and projected the contrasting qualities needed for this
version of the role— youthful insecurity and princely breeding.
Corella and Herman Cornejo work well together as Siegfried and Benno.
Corella moves on a simpler, grander scale than Cornejo with his concentration.
The star of Act 2 was the ensemble of swans, 20 of them plus 6 ensemble
soloists (Michele Wiles, scheduled to be in the principal role of Odette/Odile
at Saturday's matinee, was of one the pair of "big" swans).
Tonight they were symphonic swans, not quite the equals of the great Petersburg,
Moscow, Paris or London corps de ballets but also not eclipsed by them.
Gillian Murphy as Odette, leader of these transformed maidens, is a full-bodied
young woman I couldn't quite get used to. In Act 2, her propulsion was
sustained yet she didn't always dance her size. Murphy seemed to be scaling
movement down to make herself look petite. I'd rather have seen her unfurl
fully. Sometimes she gave passages in this great lyric role rather indefinite
endings or, unexpectedly, abrupt finishes. Is this is an instance of casting
against the grain? Not everyone suited to being, say, the smart village
girl Swanilda in "Coppelia" is believable as an enchanted princess.
Corella partnered Murphy devotedly but his acting during the great adagio
was so passionate it seemed the prince wasn't just falling head over heels
in love but already experiencing consummation.
Act 3, the great ball at which Siegfried is to choose a bride, inhibited
Murphy less. As Odile, the false Odette, she took the chance to dance
more amply. Impressive as her turns were, I again wasn't sure she was
right for the role. In the Black Swan pas de deux with Murphy, Corella's
coda was particularly brilliant. The national divertissements had dash,
notably Gennadi Saveliev's Hungarian czardas, Maria Bystrova and Vitali
Krauchenka's arched backs and castanet arms as one of the Spanish couples,
and the Neapolitan competition-in-a-mirror of Carlos Lopez and Craig Salstein.
Marcelo Gomes still exults in Rothbart the Sorcerer's dance. In the five
years since this "Swan Lake" was new, he has become more appropriately
the evil conjurer and less the showbiz magician. This version's brief
Act 4 again starred the female ensemble as the swans.
"Swan Lake" is recognizable in Kevin McKenzie's staging. Choreographically,
his is a traditionalist edition of the 1895 classic with the dances he
devised for the Act 1 party and the Act 3 ball blending into the renowned
passages "after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov'" (Act 1's pas
de trois, practically all of Act 2—the swans, Act 3's Black Swan
pas de deux—and at least the idea for Act 4—swans again).
Dramatically what differs from other versions is the characterization
of Siegfried in Act 1. Until he encounters Odette, this prince is unsuccessful
with women in contrast to his squire. McKenzie's Sorcerer seems "after"
the one in the brilliant Vladimir Bourmeister production (Moscow, 1953)
although that isn't acknowledged.
Temperamentally what differs from Petipa and Ivanov is McKenzie's penchant
for abridgement. The most drastic change has been to reduce the rich tapestry
of choreography, characterization and pageantry to so-called essentials.
As it now stands for television, the four acts really are two, the Tutor
has nothing left to do in Act 1(what a waste to have Frederic Franklin
just stand and walk about), there is no entourage to speak of for Siegfried's
royal mother, the number of candidate brides presented to Siegfried in
Act 3 is reduced from six to four, and the last act is a rushed pas d'action
with too little leavening in the form of elegiac dancing.
ABT's "Swan Lake" is watchable, but does it satisfy?
Volume
3, No. 5
February 14, 2005
www.danceviewtimes.com
Copyright
©2005 by George Jackson
|
|
Writers |
Mindy
Aloff
Dale Brauner
Mary Cargill
Christopher Correa
Clare Croft
Nancy Dalva
Rita Felciano
Marc Haegeman
George Jackson
Gia Kourlas
Alan M. Kriegsman
Sali Ann Kriegsman
Sandi Kurtz
Alexander Meinertz
Tehreema Mitha
Gay Morris
Ann Murphy
Paul Parish
John Percival
Tom Phillips
Susan Reiter
Jane Simpson
Alexandra Tomalonis (Editor)
Lisa Traiger
Meital Waibsnaider
Kathrine Sorley Walker
Leigh Witchel
|
|
DanceView |
The Autumn Issue
of DanceView is OUT! (Our subscription link
is working again, so it's easy to subscribe on line!)
Robert
Greskovic reviews two new DVDs of Fonteyn dancing "Sleeping
Beauty" and "Cinderella"
Mary
Cargill on last summer's Ashton Celebration
Profile
of Gililian Murphy, reviews of the ABT Spring season, springtime
in Paris, reports from London and San Francisco
DanceView
is available by subscription ONLY. Don't miss it. It's a good
read. Black and white, 48 pages, no ads. Subscribe
today!
DanceView
is published quarterly (January, April, July and October)
in Washington, D.C. Address all correspondence to:
DanceView
P.O. Box 34435
Washington, D.C. 20043
|
|
|