Swan Lake directed by David Hallberg opens in Melbourne
The dancing and the costumes are to die for in this beautifully staged Swan Lake from The Australian Ballet.
Tradition reigns in The Australian Ballet’s new Swan Lake, based on a fondly remembered 1977 production by former artistic director Anne Woolliams. Nearly 50 years on it’s still recognisable as her work, albeit with lashings of 21st-century glamour.
Swan Lake is the main event in artistic director David Hallberg’s celebration of the company’s 60th anniversary and, in what might be called a radical choice these days, he decided on a completely conventional production.
Don’t look for contemporary resonances. There’s no psychological inquiry into characters; no veil of social, historical or political events laid over this dark fairytale. A woman turned into a swan is just that, and it’s perfectly reasonable that a prince would fall in love with her. A sorcerer is a sorcerer. There’s even a jester.
In what has been called a reimagining (directed by Hallberg), the body of Woolliams’s ballet is pretty much the same, just dressed in opulent new clothing.
Daniel Ostling’s set is suitably atmospheric and intelligently keeps out of the way of the dancers but Mara Blumenfeld’s costumes are the clincher. They are to die for.
The swans’ dazzlingly white tutus sparkle as if still carrying drops of water from the lake. The leading women in the charming first act – a phrase one doesn’t use often – glow in swagged frocks made of the prettiest colours. Siegfried’s gold-embossed black outfit for the third-act party is divine, as is the Spanish princess’s dramatic red gown.
As fabulous as it looks, the production has a higher goal: to put a spotlight on the art of classical dance through the lens of today’s exponents of that art.
There’s absolutely nothing to hide behind and nothing was needed on opening night.
The large corps of swans was mesmerising in what might seem the paradoxical task of being a group of individuals acting in tight unison. The occasional loss of focus only brought into greater relief how splendid the women were.
Hallberg is fielding six leading casts in Melbourne. Opening night honours went to Benedicte Bemet as Odette and Odile with Joseph Caley as Siegfried. It’s a smashing pairing that always feels warm and human whatever the roles.
Bemet’s Odette was a dewy innocent with creamy pirouettes and ravishing balances on pointe that made her seem perpetually on the cusp of flight. Her tremendously seductive Odile was fascinating, Odette to the life but with sharper edges and shrewd calculation.
Some tweaks to Woolliams’s production include a sensible expansion of Siegfried’s role in the first act. There and throughout, Caley’s open-heartedness and big, joyous dancing were incredibly appealing. He is a sensitive partner too. The Act II pas de deux for Odette and Siegfried was sublime.
Jarryd Madden was a striking von Rothbart even though the sorcerer’s part is somewhat underwritten.
Hallberg hopes this Swan Lake will last as long or longer than Woolliams’s did. If so, there’s time to sort out a few infelicities, including the ending. The ballet’s final moments are described in different ways, oddly, in the synopsis given in the printed program and the one on the website. Unfortunately, the version that found its way onstage is anti-climactic.
The opposite was the case for Orchestra Victoria with music director Jonathan Lo at the helm. Opening night heard a bold, dynamic reading of Tchaikovsky’s score. It was wonderful to hear so many fresh details emerge from such well-known music.
Everything old was new again.
Swan Lake. The Australian Ballet. State Theatre, Melbourne, September 19. Tickets: limited availability. Bookings: online. Duration: 2hr 33min including two intervals. Melbourne until September 30; Adelaide, October 7-14; Brisbane, October 24-28; Sydney, December 1-20. Livestream available September 29-October 13.