David Nixon’s New England-located version of Swan Lake, first seen five years ago, has a stunning, lyrical beauty.
The setting is redolent of a short story from F Scott Fitzgerald. Playful young men larking by a picturesque lake, a cleverly staged session of touch football, and then the pretty girls arrive. Some of the young men ride bicycles, which is looking even more of a mistake now than when the ballet was first staged. Bike stunts and ballet dancers do not go together and mountain bikes are certainly not suitable for a story set early in the last century.
Nixon animates his swan chorus with sharply defined upper body movements and watching them weave through reeds is a sight to savour. As act three draws to a close the swans appear from beneath a blue canopy, it rises and billows just above their heads. A magnificent sight.
Obviously there’s no Prince Siegfried in New England, instead we have Anthony, played by Tobias Batley, who is guilt-ridden over the drowning of his brother, in early childhood, and is now unsure of his sexuality. Best friend Simon, played by David Ward, and the delectable Odilia, Georgina May, tug at Anthony’s feelings in a dramatic pas de trois that drips with anger and resentment.
There is an unforced mood of American Gothic in this staging. The swan creature Odette, danced by the charismatic Martha Leebolt, has an intriguing final solo that simmers with foreboding.
Production information can change over the run of the show.
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