{"id":2571,"date":"2011-07-06T17:55:02","date_gmt":"2011-07-06T21:55:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/?p=2571"},"modified":"2011-07-06T17:25:43","modified_gmt":"2011-07-06T21:25:43","slug":"american-ballet-theatres-swan-lake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/american-ballet-theatres-swan-lake.htm","title":{"rendered":"American Ballet Theatre’s Swan Lake"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Gillian<\/a>
Gillian Murphy as Odette in Swan Lake - Photo by Rosalie O'Connor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Swan Lake
\nAmerican Ballet Theatre<\/a>
\nJune 28, 2011<\/p>\n

Even after having spent decades at the theater watching dance concerts, I continue to hold a special place in my heart for American Ballet Theatre\u2019s production of Swan Lake, choreographed by Kevin McKenzie.\u00a0 For me, every last detail of the ballet is just beautiful.\u00a0 The pastoral sets and swirling\u00a0 skirts in so many shades of blue, all designed by Zack Brown, just delight my eye from the moment the dancing begins.\u00a0 Even though everything involved with the production is so purely classical and pleasing to the eye and the ear, still the story always carries that undercurrent of edginess, to give it an added spark.<\/p>\n

This season I saw the lead roles performed by Gillian Murphy and David Hallberg.\u00a0 Both dancers disappeared into their characters.\u00a0 Throughout the entire evening, there was never a moment when I felt that I had to suspend disbelief.\u00a0 Mr. Hallberg\u2019s Siegfried seemed to possess a mischievous streak, as if he was almost a bit of a rebel.\u00a0 Even though he appeared young and almost boyish in Act I, there were moments when he seemed to have a devilish gleam in his eye, and this showed itself in his movement too.\u00a0 I was so happy to see Susan Jaffe playing the role of the Queen Mother and I enjoyed the few brief moments that she shared with Hallberg.\u00a0 The Pas de Trois, danced by Renata Pavam, Simone Messmer and Sascha Radetsky, was especially lively and lyrical.<\/p>\n

\"Gillian<\/a>
Gillian Murphy and David Hallberg in Swan Lake - photo by MIRA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ms. Murphy made the most vulnerable Odette.\u00a0 She is such a convincing actress and her movement is so organic to her character.\u00a0 This was especially evident in a breathtaking sequence of pirouettes and pique turns toward the end of Act II in which she just sailed as if weightless and riding on the wind, the way that a bird would.\u00a0 As the dynamics of the music shifted and built, she picked up speed in a seamless transition.\u00a0 When she is partnered with Mr. Hallberg, their dancing seems effortless.\u00a0 There is such strong chemistry between them.\u00a0 They moved through balances, penches, turns and lifts as if they were one entity.\u00a0\u00a0 At times, it was almost as if they weren\u2019t even touching, but instead just floating along together side by side.<\/p>\n

In sharp contrast to her guileless Odette, Ms. Murphy blazed on to the stage as Odile.\u00a0 From the moment that she made her fiery entrance in Act III, she appeared to be in complete control of the moment, a combination of defiant bad girl and femme fatal.\u00a0 Her spirit was every bit as convincing as her dancing.\u00a0 For me, this act was the crescendo of the evening, and I hung on every single gesture and step.<\/p>\n

The entire cast, from the players in the party scenes to the swans, were just magnificent.\u00a0 The big ensemble dances were so uplifting and full of life.\u00a0 Every formation struck by the swans is just so achingly beautiful and the sets at the lake completely capture the atmosphere of the forest.\u00a0 They are among my favorite in all of ballet.<\/p>\n

\"American<\/a>
American Ballet Theatre's Swan Lake - Photo by Marty Sohl<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It seemed as if the evening was over almost moments after it started. At just the moment when I was sure that I\u2019d witnessed something close ballet perfection, I was reminded of the things that are sometimes in store when you go to see live theater.\u00a0 When it came time for the bows, the swans were assembled on stage, behind the scrim.\u00a0 The scrim began to slide in to the left wing, but it only made it about a third of the way across the stage before it got stuck.\u00a0 We could see that it was being yanked, but it was stubbornly refusing to move, so finally it was lifted vertically, clearing the stage and vanishing above.\u00a0 What a relief that this didn\u2019t happen earlier to mar this beautiful performance.<\/p>\n

I look forward to ABT\u2019s Swan Lake every year and I always feel a little heartbroken when it\u2019s over.\u00a0 This year was no exception.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Swan Lake American Ballet Theatre June 28, 2011 Even after having spent decades at the theater watching dance concerts, I continue to hold a special place in my heart for American Ballet Theatre\u2019s production of Swan Lake, choreographed by Kevin … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,20],"tags":[134,276,275,274],"class_list":["post-2571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dance","category-karen","tag-american-ballet-theatre","tag-david-hallberg","tag-gillian-murphy","tag-swan-lake"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2571"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2580,"href":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2571\/revisions\/2580"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irasperipheralvisions.com\/WetPaint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}