In
the Realm of Ideas
Swan Lake
Pennsylvania Ballet
Academy of Music
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Friday, June 4, 2004
by George Jackson
copyright
© 2004 by George Jackson
published June 8, 2004
Christopher
Wheeldon's ideas for Swan Lake keep you at the edge of your seat.
His very first thoughts are about Tchaikovsky's music. Even before the
curtain rises, one is aware of the orchestra's definite phrasing and distinct
tempi. The score is alive, it breathes and must be dealt with, not relied
upon as a crutch. The first view of the stage astonishes. It is a living
picture based on the luminous ballet paintings of Edgar Degas rather than
a conventional Russian Swan Lake immersed in the mellow pallet
of late romantic light and shade. As the scene is peopled and plot lines
germinate, is Wheeldon more engrossed by the metamorphosis of rehearsal
into performance than by the predicaments of the fictional or historical
characters, be they Rothbart or Degas's abonné? It is fascinating
to see Wheeldon shape passages of choreography "after Marius Petipa
and Lev Invanov" into coherence with dances of his own devising.
One is kept going to the very end by questions and surprises. I could
hardly wait to see whether the lovers, Odette and Siegfried, would live
or die together, or forever be parted.
Wheeldon's ideas hover about the nature of reality and the role of imagination,
but their realization was uneven. It was a brilliant achievement to establish
the backstage and onstage worlds of the 19th Century ballet through Degas's
eyes. No less successful was the bold transition from rehearsal to performance.
Wheeldon's own choreography and his molding of Petipa/Ivanov passages*
have strong impetus. The counterpoint between the action of the swan corps
and the adagio of the principals in Act 2 is dynamic. Throughout, and
not just for the swans, Wheeldon makes elaborate, even florid use of the
dancers' arms. However, he tends to eschew architecture of absolute beauty
in favor of propulsion. Without a huge company to call on he can't, of
course, achieve the wave upon wave of classical dancing that emerged in
Pyotr Gusev's staging of Act 2 (for Moscow's Stanislavsky company). Even
making allowances, some of Wheeldon's classicism seemed a bit dry, not
just in the group dances but in his conception of Odette/Odile as a ballerina
rather than a character. All the passion is segregated into Prince Siegfried's
role.
In Act 3, to give the Black Swan deception a context, Wheeldon's version
dispenses with Siegfried's candidate brides but not with the "gala"
divertissements. First, in the place where Ashton's famous insert—a
pas de quatre—ended up, is a classical foursome. It has too much
parallel work. Then there's a Russian dance that becomes a strip tease,
an ironic Spanish trio, a Hungarian czardas, and a cancan to the Neapolitan
music. The czardas, overly cute, fails to make a point. The cancan almost
works, but needs other music to support a climax.
The lakeside Act 4 is far from being just a variation on Act 2. In dancing
and feeling it is the most dramatic of the four acts, even a bit melodramatic.
Some movement vectors were dynamic, yet one major grouping seemed not
just dry but heavy, with the swans agglutinated into a lump. The ballet's
ending is tricky. It worked on opening night but might easily go awry.
Pennsylvania Ballet looked its best in this production. Zachary Hench
handled Siegfried's emotions and dancing convincingly but Riolama Lorenzo,
a competent young soloist, isn't yet the ballerina needed for so singular
an Odette/Odile as conceived by Wheeldon. Tamara Hadley, ballerina emerita,
was the apt Queen and Mother figure. The orchestra needed more rehearsal
on opening night but, conducted by Beatrice Jona Affron, had spirit. The
designers—Adrianne Lobel for scenery, Jean-Marc Puissant for costumes,
Natasha Katz for lighting—achieved wonders with simple means.
* Traditional step passages are principally the Act 1 pas de trois, much
of Act 2, Act 3's Black Swan pas de deux, some formations in
Act 4.
Photos:
First: Arantxa Ochoa as Odette-Odile in a sea of swans in Pennsylvania
Ballet's new Swan Lake by Christopher Wheeldon. Photo: Paul Kolnik
Second:
Riolama Lorenzo as Odette-Odile in Pennsylvania Ballet's new Swan
Lake by Christopher Wheeldon. Photo: Rosalie O'Connor.
Third: Riolama
Lorenzo and Zachary Hench in Pennsylvania Ballet's new Swan Lake
by Christopher Wheeldon. Photo: Rosalie O'Connor.
Originally
published:
www.danceviewtimes.com
Volume 2, Number 21
June 8, 2004
Copyright
©2004 by George Jackson
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