V Weekend: How one man’s dynamic vision is reinventing a timeless ballet
To mark the 60th anniversary of the Australian Ballet, artistic director David Hallberg has reinvented Swan Lake for a modern audience, honouring the company’s proud achievements while redefining ballet history.
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The shortlist was a lot smaller than expected.
“When I thought of what the company needed, I knew it was time to go back to a classic,” Australian Ballet artistic director David Hallberg says.
“Honestly, the list wasn’t very long,” he adds, laughing. “It wasn’t even short.”
Hallberg’s to-do list related to decisions on a timeless piece to celebrate the Australian Ballet’s 60th anniversary, which ticked over this year. He chose Swan Lake, a 1977 version by British dancer, choreographer and the company’s former artistic director, the late Anne Woolliams.
“People remember Anne’s production so vividly, and fondly. I knew this gem, which we had in our repertoire, had to be unearthed,” Hallberg says.
Swan Lake, set to music by Tchaikovsky, is the tale of a princess, Odette, who is turned into a swan by an evil magician, Rothbart. Prince Siegfried falls in love with Odette, but is tricked into discarding her in favour of Odile, Rothbart’s black-swan daughter in disguise.
Hallberg says Woolliams’ version turned the focus on “artistic and actor portrayal”, adding: “The technical nuances of Swan Lake, that people know and love, are there. But in Anne’s version, the characters have deep meaning. I’ve tried to adhere to that.”
He’s reinstated several music sections that Woolliams cut, and tweaked a few steps and parts of the storyline. “The base is Anne Woolliams,” Hallberg insists, then laughs again. “I’m not here to mess everythingup.”
That said, it’s almost 50 years since Woolliams devised her interpretation. “Times have changed, dancing has changed, acting has changed, and set design has changed,” Hallberg says. “I’m trying to find the balance of being true to Anne’s intention, but also … it’s 2023.” Hallberg has also added new costumes by Mara Blumenfeld and set design by Daniel Ostling.
Blumenfeld’s designs, he says, accentuate the “athleticism of the dancers, and therefore the shape of the dancer body”.
“I didn’t want to overstuff things,” Hallberg adds. “I didn’t want it to be too full. I really wanted to show the silhouette. The costumes, patterns, and materials are beautiful. It’s not overdecorative.”
Certainly, as the company prepares to stage Swan Lake for modern times, Hallberg is keenly aware of the temptation to make it too palatable.
“Swan Lake can easily become this painted fairytale, like a Disney movie,” he says.
“I wanted to steer away from that. I ask myself, why is Swan Lake still valid? Why is it still performed? Why do people flock to Swan Lake? The reason is, it’s beautiful; but it really has to portray a sense of honesty, a sense of realness so it doesn’t get into a caricature or a museum piece.”
Hallberg, a former principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre in New York, and the renowned Bolshoi Ballet, started his tenure as artistic director of the Australian Ballet two years ago.
He has performed with companies including the Paris Opera Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, Kyiv Ballet and Australian Ballet. He also has history with Swan Lake.
Hallberg says it’s a joy to share his experience in so many versions of Swan Lake with the Australian Ballet.
“I really want them to feel that they can make their own choices, especially the leads, Odette and the Prince. But the characters need to be vibrant.”
Hallberg says one of his early priorities with the Australian Ballet has been to “refine and shape the technique” of the dancers.
“I think now, with Swan Lake, it’s time to let go of the exactitude we’ve worked so hard for, because now, it’s innate.”
Benedicte Bemet, a principal artist with the Australian Ballet, is playing the dual roles of Odette and Odile.
“I’ve grown up in the company with this ballet, and I’ve watched the other ballerinas interpret the roles. It’s meaningful, it’s iconic, and it’s a ballet that ballerinas want to say they’ve danced,” Bemet says. “As soon as I hear the music, I’m taken back to my 20-year-old self in the corps de ballet. It’s really nostalgic.”
When Bemet speaks to VWeekend, it’s still weeks until opening night at the Arts Centre Melbourne. “We haven’t done a full run-through of the ballet just yet,” she says. “We’re working out what sits well on our bodies, and what the story is.”
She’s also working on her approach to Odette, and the darker Odile.
“I want to keep it true to what I feel; what she’s thinking and feeling, and if it resonates, honestly, for myself. I’m still learning.
“It’s a technically-challenging ballet, so it’s easy to get preoccupied with being able to do the steps. It’s hard sometimes to take your head out of that physical, technical space and put it back into the more emotional, musical space. I’m working on that balance.”
Bemet does visualisation and imagery work to stay in the game mentally and calm performance nerves.
“I spent a lot of time dealing with stress and anxiety in my younger years … just knowing I’m doing the best I can; that’s all you can do,” she says. “You practise as much as you can in the studio, but you have to trust yourself and your (dance) partner.
“If something goes wrong, you’ll fix it,” Bemet says. “It’s not the end of the world, it’s live theatre. You can’t get in your own way.”
Famously, Swan Lake also includes the most notorious step in the ballet repertory: 32 fouette (French for “whipped”) turns. Odile performs 32 consecutive turns, on one leg, on a single spot, with the other (raised) leg providing most of the propulsion.
“That is a physical stamina challenge,” Bemet says. “You try to lower your heart rate, shake your legs out and find a little bit of fire. Not angry fire,” she adds, “but you need a bit of grunt to get through it. Rather than be scared of it, you find a way to lean into it.”
With Swan Lake, David Hallberg is pushing into the future with a blast from the past.
“It’s our 60th anniversary, and I’ve done a lot of looking back,” he says.
“But we’re in a very vibrant moment, and we’re charging forward. What Swan Lake does is balance the history of this company, and how much it’s done in 60 years.”
Swan Lake has also caused Hallberg to keep asking: How does it speak to modern audiences?
“Yes, it’s about a prince that falls in love with a swan, and gets tricked by an evil sorcerer,” Hallberg says.
“But, on the other hand, Swan Lake offers the beauty of this art form, the beauty of ballet. Art is allowed to be beautiful. When people go to see a Monet, or a Da Vinci, it’s the beauty of the shape, of the line, of everything.
“Why is Swan Lake still reaching audiences?” he asks. “It’s beautiful. It’s timeless.”
Hallberg is thankful to philanthropists including the Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch Foundation, and James & Diana Ramsay Foundation, for donating $1m each to help stage the new-look Swan Lake.
“The history of philanthropy goes way back,” Hallberg says. “At this company, we follow a long lineage of people who care about the art form and help bring it to life.
“The supporters I’ve met at the Australian Ballet have left a deep impression on me, whether it’s Primrose Potter, or Sarah Murdoch, or Natasha Bowness. They feel so deeply about this company, and support my vision for it. It really changes everything, and it’s the reason we’re able to do Jewels, or Don Quixote, or Swan Lake.”
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