ABT 2015 - Swan Lake

As you probably remember, my usual ballet night is Tuesday, but when the ABT schedule came out, I decided to exchange my ticket for a Wednesday so I could see a different couple do Swan Lake.  At first I thought to myself, 'gee, I think I've only seen Veronika Part in Nutcracker, so I'll pick her.'  Uh, no, I went back and looked at my past ballet posts and I've seen her dance a lot!  I've seen her in Giselle (as the head Wili), Apollo (as Terpsichore), in a couple of Ratmansky pieces and even twice this season, in Les Sylphides and Jardin aux Lilas!  And I've always loved her!  So why did I think I never see her?  Hmmmm...

Anyway, last night was Swan Lake with Veronika dancing Odette/Odile opposite Cory Stearns.  I actually haven't been back to Swan Lake since the amazingly transcendent performance I saw starring Julie Kent and Marcelo Gomes, but I do so love the ballet.  I had to go back.  At least Marcelo was dancing Rothbart (or Purple Rothbart, as he's informally known, since there are two dancers playing Rothbart at different times in the ballet).  So I figured if I didn't love Cory, there would always be Marcelo later on.

photo credit: Andrea Mohin

I had a fantastic time!  No, it wasn't the perfectly sublime experience of before, but it was an exquisitely danced performance and I think I witnessed Cory make a real breakthrough in his acting.  Normally, I find him a lovely dancer, but otherwise rather dull.  'Stalwart' is the word I generally use.  But last night, he was finding so many shades to Siegfried, it was wonderful.  His throughline was so clear and he was often doing something so interesting, I would watch him rather than the corps de ballet dancing on the other side of the stage.  That was a big change for me.  Ironically, I found Cory's acting stronger last night than his dancing.  At least, his acting had more purpose and more clarity, as if that's where his energy needed to be placed, instead of in his dancing (which was terrific, don't get me wrong, but not as electric).  When he puts the two things together, he is going to be dynamite.  I look forward to watching that develop.

photo credit: Rosalie O'Connor

Veronika was glorious - so beautiful and voluptuous.  Her long legs are so beautiful and she uses them to great effect to bring so many nuances to very familiar choreography.  Her Odette was mournful and hopeful at the same time and her Odile was so seductive and full of joy at her seduction.  The Black Swan pas de deux was simply electric - fast and furious, and full of meaning.  The way Odile and Purple Rothbart shared their evil glee at mastering Siegfried was amazing.  And Marcelo as Purple Rothbart was off.the.charts.  SO fantastic in a long list of fantastic performances I've seen him give.  There's an unsupported arabesque at the end of Rothbart's solo that I've never seen a dancer maintain without wobbling and Marcelo nailed it.  He even got bigger at the end and lifted his leg higher as if to really tell off the room.  I can't describe how he seduced everyone on stage and in the audience.  It was a pleasure (as always) to watch him.

photo credit: Gene Schiavone

The swans were lovely and in good unison, the cygnettes did a great job, and the youngsters doing the Peasant Pas de Deux were terrific, if a teensy bit off the mark at the very end.  But I've never seen any of those dancers do that variation before and it was nice to see them do so well.  I also noticed a fantastic young man in the first scene with stunning elevation in his split jumps.  Looking at the cast list, I can only assume he was Sung Woo Han and he is someone I will be keeping my eye on.

I was happy to see my ABT MVP, Roman Zhurbin, actually do a (sort of) dancing role for once!  I usually see him play Lizard Rothbart in Swan Lake, but last night he danced the Spanish dance and was terrific.  I hope to see him do more dancing alongside his terrific character work in the future.  Thomas Forster was Lizard Rothbart and he was quite good.  In that ridiculous lizard costume, he still found power and control over the swans - that is the mark of a good actor, to be able to get a characterization across while wearing a foam lizard costume.  :)

I'm so glad I went back to Swan Lake!  It was just what I needed after a VERY long day at work.  But I can't believe it was my penultimate ballet of the season!  I have Cinderella next week and that's it!  I'm already in withdrawal.  At least Wimbledon starts next week and I'll be able to get a tennis fix in every morning for two weeks...