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Richmond Ballet Swan Lake Feb. 2020


laurel

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I was in Richmond, Virginia yesterday to see their version of “Swan Lake,” featuring ABT’s Sarah Lane and Cory Stearns in the leads.  I was unfamiliar with this small company but was happy to see how professional and very skilled their dancers were.  A couple of the women seemed highly proficient and would not look out of place at ABT.

The ballet was performed at the Carpenter Theater, which has all the earmarks of once having been a 1920s silent movie palace, with a high, soaring ceiling, wide auditorium and a deep balcony, and a proscenium area covered with terra cotta designs and figures painted turquoise and coral.  Unfortunately, this also means that the stage is very shallow, which is not great for the grand choreography of a ballet like Swan Lake.  Because of this, the scale of the production is reduced, as well as the scale of the dancing.  No Bolshoi-style grand bravura displays, not a lot of traveling movement.  The grand jetes are less grand, the maneges less deep.  Throughout the show, you could see Lane and Stearns tempering their movement to conform to the stage size. 

The production has more traditional elements than ABT’s, including the jester and only one Von Rothbart dressed in a black unitard and ragged cape (thankfully, no green sci-fi lizard).  There is a prologue, but no purple Rothbart wrestling a toy swan into submission.  Here, Odette is picking flowers on the rocks by the lake.  Von Rothbart enchants her, she moves offstage into a cloud of smoke from the wings, and from behind the rocks we see a swan (or swan shape) floating past. 

I was there to see Lane, of course, and she didn’t disappoint.  Her accumulated experience since her unexpected SL debut in 2017 have changed her dancing in this ballet and enriched her characterization.  With each additional performance, she displays how much she’s learned and how far she’s come.  As usual, Lane takes you on the character’s emotional journey and makes it easy to follow.  Her Odette, after her initial shock at the sight of Siegfried, gradually succumbs to her attraction to him, visibly shaking her head “No,” as if she cannot control what is occurring.  She is a deeply unhappy girl and her intense sadness might bring you to tears.  Lane’s performance in the Act II pas de deux was beautiful.  Her dancing was pure liquid, those deep arabesques, the backbends, the hands floating and feathering the air.  I’d hoped some of her emotional qualities might have had an effect on Stearns.  I’ve avoided performances with him and his usual partner, Hee Seo, for around a decade due to their inexpressiveness, Seo’s technical problems, and the overall dullness of their dancing.  Alas, Stearns’ performance last night was still pretty square jawed and stolid, but his partnering is very good, and in the White Swan pas de deux his minimal display of emotion allowed Lane to shine.  And I consider that a plus.

Lane’s Odile really is something else.  What a malicious creature, mocking Siegfried with an imitation of Odette, taunting him!  It was almost outrageous.  When Von Rothbart leads her onstage, Odile actually joins in the Spanish dance for a few bars, until Rothbart pulls her aside and offstage.  This woman really craves attention!  Sometimes in fantasy and fairy tale theater and movies, the use of sequins and sparkle may indicate the presence of magic, and that’s what I see in Odile and her hard-edged glittery costume.  With this glittering outer shell, Lane’s seductive and hard-edged dancing as Odile was an amazing counterpart to her feathery soft Odette.  She magically seduced Siegfried into her glittery embrace and he was lost – especially with her magical and amazing 33-fouetté coda (yes, I counted). 

The moment I saw the Act III ballroom set on that shallow stage, which decreased the stage area even more, I assumed that there would be fouetté trouble ahead, especially since Lane (like everyone else at ABT) tends to travel downstage during fouettés (it’s the ABT house style).  Lane usually begins her sequence with two singles followed by a double, but here, she began with a double followed by two singles.  She continued this pattern and apparently was controlling her spin velocity and slowing it down, so she managed not to drift too far downstage.  By the time she’d reached 24 or 25, she’d stopped traveling, and continued with singles for the remainder.  At this point, she was clearly following the music and increased her speed, providing her with a few seconds more to whirl through that extra 33rd fouetté and end cleanly.  It was a great display of the maturity and control which deepens with each of Lane’s performances, especially in the ballets, like this one, in which her home company offers her little or no performance time.  What fools!  New York audiences would eat up this woman’s incredible double-character interpretation of Odette-Odile.  Lane is dancing with enormous confidence now – I think perhaps those two Manon performances last year changed her forever – or maybe it’s the maturity that comes from age, or both.  Whatever it is, I think that her performances this spring should be emotional knockouts. 

I should mention that this is the first production of Swan Lake I’ve seen in which Odette and Siegfried survive the end conflict with Von Rothbart and walk off into the sunset (or sunrise) together!  Siegfried appears to have been vanquished, but he rises from the ground, faces the audience, raises his arm overhead and proclaims his love for Odette as her image appears in the sky above the lake.  Von Rothbart collapses in a heap and dies as the spell is broken.  Odette runs onstage dressed in her prologue costume (oddly, a Juliet-style garment), a swan no more.  A happy ending!  Thank you, Richmond Ballet!

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Lane did a live Instagram story on her account about 3 hours ago of a Q&A with the dancers of the Richmond Ballet. You can still watch it. It’s maybe an hour, I’m still watching.
 

They ask a lot of good questions: how she’s been treated at ABT, the Black Swan movie controversy, how she handles nerves, self confidence issues, etc. She also talked about how the former guest artist policy affected her confidence and held back her career (and that of others too) and how once she was promoted to principal she wouldn’t even get tech rehearsals for big debuts.

Someone asked if Stearns is a regular partner and what it’s like to dance with him. She said, and I’m paraphrasing, that they are longtime good friends but never danced together much till this year. She had wonderful things to say about him, including how nice it is to dance with someone who can hold her up without worry. Hmmmmm.

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Thank you Laurel for this detailed review. I went to Lane and Stearns's performance yesterday and echo what you've said here. Regarding Stearns's emotion, I do feel like he brought more than usual yesterday. However, Lane was the clear star of this performance. "Fools" are exactly what I'd describe the ABT powers that be who deny Lane her own Swan Lake this spring. 

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6 hours ago, ABT Fan said:

Lane did a live Instagram story on her account about 3 hours ago of a Q&A with the dancers of the Richmond Ballet. You can still watch it. It’s maybe an hour, I’m still watching.

They ask a lot of good questions: how she’s been treated at ABT, the Black Swan movie controversy, how she handles nerves, self confidence issues, etc. She also talked about how the former guest artist policy affected her confidence and held back her career (and that of others too) and how once she was promoted to principal she wouldn’t even get tech rehearsals for big debuts.

Someone asked if Stearns is a regular partner and what it’s like to dance with him. She said, and I’m paraphrasing, that they are longtime good friends but never danced together much till this year. She had wonderful things to say about him, including how nice it is to dance with someone who can hold her up without worry. Hmmmmm.

Thanks, ABT Fan, I did see the Q&A with Lane this morning.  I was at the hair salon and brought my phone so I could stream it.  Some of the stylists came over to watch a little of it, too!  They didn't know who she was or what she was discussing, but were impressed that I'd just seen her perform a couple of days ago.  I thought the students asked some excellent, thoughtful questions.  It was a more interesting discussion than most.  I was stunned to learn that even as a new principal, she couldn't get tech rehearsals for her debut ballets.  I wonder if they treat other, more favored principal women as cavalierly.  She's lucky her leg wasn't badly injured when it went through the set flat!  

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4 hours ago, Lena C. said:

Thank you Laurel for this detailed review. I went to Lane and Stearns's performance yesterday and echo what you've said here. Regarding Stearns's emotion, I do feel like he brought more than usual yesterday. However, Lane was the clear star of this performance. "Fools" are exactly what I'd describe the ABT powers that be who deny Lane her own Swan Lake this spring. 

Lena C., just curious about how long the Saturday evening Swan Lake performance lasted.  Did it end between 9:30 - 10:00 pm as ours did on Friday?  That second intermission lasted a loooooong time.  I thought there might have been a problem, perhaps someone was injured, but thankfully, no.  But it was really nerve wracking just waiting for that curtain to rise! 

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19 hours ago, laurel said:

Lena C., just curious about how long the Saturday evening Swan Lake performance lasted.  Did it end between 9:30 - 10:00 pm as ours did on Friday?  That second intermission lasted a loooooong time.  I thought there might have been a problem, perhaps someone was injured, but thankfully, no.  But it was really nerve wracking just waiting for that curtain to rise! 

Yes, my evening show ended around the same time! I guess they just do really long intermissions. 

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I saw the first two acts on Friday night (sadly, I had to miss acts 3 and 4 as my little ones were falling asleep), and then the whole production on Sunday afternoon. From the moment Cory Stearns walked onstage in act 1, it was clear that he is an extremely elegant dancer. He seemed to work well with the Richmond Ballet dancers, but his fine-grained movement immediately set him apart. His solo at the end of act 1 was so beautifully executed- soft plies, invisible preparations, seamless musicality. My favorite moment came after that solo, when he kneeled downstage right with his head in his hands- he seemed at a complete loss. My next favorite moment came as he spotted a flock of swans in the distance- he is standing with a group of men sharing a drink, and as he brought the cup to his lips, his eyes suddenly fell upon something in the distance. It was fascinating to watch this subtle yet profound change expression.

Sarah Lane certainly measured up to all of the hype surrounding her. She was a beautiful Odette, and I can imagine how her Odile would have been wonderful. Interestingly, I don't see her as a "natural" Odette- but that speaks of her ability to transform herself. She shared the same seamless quality as her partner, and their pas de deux was beautifully and deeply moving. 

I of course expected the guest artists to be impressive, so it was wonderful to see the depth of talent in Richmond Ballet shine as well. Tony Oates performed the pas de trois with a similar elegance, musicality and soft plie as Stearns displayed. Oates' presence is warm and coupled with strong, secure, technique and beautiful line- earlier this season he performed the lead in Balanchine's Theme and Variations with complete control while also conveying a certain amount of thrill in the choreography. He is a developing talent to be watched! In act 3, Eri Nishihara flew across the stage with pointe work that was so light and effortless, but never once lost the elegance of her upper body. She is another extremely musical dancer in this company, responding innately to the music as she hears it. The entire corps de ballet moved as one, with every angle of the arms and legs matched exactly whether in movement or stationary. The swans  framing the stage never moved or flinched and yet seemed to radiate beauty and life.

Sunday afternoon brought all of these beautiful moments again- at the end of a long weekend- as well as the truly stunning performance by Cody Beaton and Fernando Sabino in the leads. Beaton and Sabino are longtime Richmond Ballet dancers, and frequently paired together. Two years ago I was pleasantly surprised by Beaton's beautiful, girlish and charming Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, but I think her accomplishments as Odette and Odile surpassed her work then. She is unbelievably strong- and my only quibble would be that sometimes I can see that strength a little too much in Odile of all roles- but as Odette, that strength expressed itself in deep back bends, quivering pointe work and flying, sustained balances. Her arms were fluid, and I loved the shapes she created with them as they enfolded her body or curved around her head as wings. She conveyed every trill in the music as part of her character, and every step seemed to be part of a longer, larger phrase, fluidly transitioning from one to the next. The emotion she brought to her character read clearly through the entire theater- we were in the middle of the balcony. As Odile, Beaton was perhaps slightly too hard-edged during the pas de deux...Odile, in my opinion, should have some softness and allure as opposed to glitteringly tight control, but that is my own personal taste. None the less, she delivered the requisite 32 fouettés on the music and on center. Sabino is not technically as solid as Ms. Beaton, but held his own in his variations and his presence is warm and appealing and he tells the story. The pair shares similar dance values, and together they create a beautiful chemistry. The ending of the ballet- the first time I have seen the "happy" version- had me in tears, still, as Sabino's Siegfried rises from the ground lost and dejected before turning around to discover Odette in her true form emerging from the mist. The music- so exquisitely played by the Richmond Symphony- helps at this moment, too.

There is something about this company that enables them to deliver beautifully detailed productions of the classics. I still have not forgotten Sleeping Beauty from two years ago- I think it was my favorite of any production I have seen, and I have to say the same about Swan Lake. You might go to other companies and find more technically assured dancers (though Beaton is most definitely emerging as a first-class ballerina), but you don't find the attention to detail, nor the love and pride at pulling off such a production. Every dancer seems to understand their place in the story and also realize how important they are to the production as a whole. Everyone contributes to the telling of the story- from the ladies-in-waiting all the way through the ranks, and they work so well together. Considering the crowd at the theater during the two shows I attended, it looks as if Richmond also appreciates this jewel of a ballet company.

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