Venue Cymru, Llandudno, October 18th 2024 and touring
(4.5 / 5)
An Imperial Classic Ballet production. Ballet Artistic Director – Katsiaryna Fadzeyeva, Conductor – Nikita Suhik, Concertmaster – Polina Chaika.
Swan Lake, a timeless story that became the standard for classical ballet and redefined the genre. Would this production continue to entrance the audience as much as the ballet has since its first presentation?
The libretto is well known and at its heart is a love story. Prince Siegfried is disappointed at his birthday celebration that no suitable bride is presented to him. After, while hunting he sees some swans by the lake. He is entranced by the white swan, Odette who insists that she and the other swans are human and have been put under a spell by the evil magician, Rothbart that can only be broken by everlasting love. In Act 2, the Prince has to choose his bride and eventually sees Odile, Rothbarts daughter and sees an uncanny resemblance to Odette. In the heat of celebration he confesses his love for Odile, breaking his vow to Odette who watches on from the window. Once he realises, the Prince returns to the lake to see the grief stricken swans. He begs forgiveness of Odette and declares his love. Rothbart challenges him, but love prevails.
The ballet tugs at the heartstrings throughout taking you through a range of emotions from joy to grief. This is enabled by Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s moving score. He pioneered the use of leitmotifs, snatches of music that are assigned to a character and repeated when they appear on stage. Musically it is challenging. On speaking to the first violinist she commented that Tchaikovsky composed on a piano, having five fingers available while the violinist has only got four, the thumb being used as a grip. The orchestra proved the point that dance and music are natural extensions of each other and portrayed the emotions in the ballet really well.
To perform Swan Lake is difficult, comparable to Sleeping Beauty in its complexity, yet the lead roles are compelling for any aspiring dancer. There were a series of tableaux illustrating the skills of the dancers which provided ample evidence that ballet makes extremely difficult manoeuvres look effortless. The part of Odile/Odette is particularly challenging both technically and emotionally yet illustrated that the movement of the human body can be beautiful as it combines grace, poise and strength. This performance did not disappoint, yet again this dance proved to be compelling viewing
The ballet troupe and orchestra, in the midst of a gruelling schedule for their national tour were enthusiastic and committed tonight, although my impression is that the emphasis in this production is on demonstrating prowess rather than storytelling. However, this did not spoil what was an excellent and thoroughly recommended evenings entertainment.
