Swan Lake, Russian National Ballet Theatre, October 11, Canberra Theatre.
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Swan Lake is one of the great icons of classical ballet. At its best, the story is moving, mesmerising and magical, and its choreography is the epitome of the classical style that grew and developed in Russia at the end of the 19th century. Sadly, however, the recent production by the Russian National Ballet Theatre showed few of those characteristics and, with no press material available on the night regarding the performers or the creatives, I can't say who performed the leading roles, to whom the choreography should be attributed, or who designed and lit the work. Perhaps it is just as well.
The Russian National Ballet Theatre is one of those companies that has drawn dancers from across Russia and it tours the world in a series of one or two-night stands. On this Australian tour, the company will perform in 24 different theatres from Mackay to Bunbury. Canberra was the 10th stop and the dancers already looked tired. But worse, I found the techniques of most of the dancers, including some of the principals, not up to strong professional standards.
Ballet has certain technical requirements that unless adhered to, make the dancing look awkward and inelegant. Many of the dancers didn't point their feet, didn't hold the spine erect, didn't turn out their legs, didn't curve their arms, and here I am mentioning just the less complex technical elements.
Apart from technical issues, I found this Swan Lake one of the least moving and the least expressive I have ever seen. There was so little interaction between the characters, so little acting beyond the occasional meaningless gesture or smile, that the whole drama of the ballet was lost. One thing, though, if the audience didn't know the balletic mime convention for "let's dance" before this show, they certainly would have known by the end of the night. It was used everywhere, over and over again.
As for the design, the media release stated the set was evocative of the Russian imperial world. Well, Act III had a decidedly Gothic set, with cathedral-style arches framing a mediaeval hunting scene. And the lighting did nothing to hide the problems I found with the performance. The swans in Act II were so poorly lit, they looked even more tired than they probably were. Most critics try hard to find positive aspects, but it was very hard with this production.