Question of princesses' entrances + divertissements

[Ray Boucher]

I'm not sure how easy or hard this question may be to answer, but I figured I'd ask it here.

When producing Swan Lake, different choreographers tend to switch/change the order of some of the action/dances in Act III - more specifically the entry, and waltz, of the princesses/prospective brides, and the national divertissements. Many versions traditionally have the opening march, the waltz of the princesses, Odile and Rothbart's entrance, then the divertissements, pas de deux and the betrayal scene. As far as I know, the general Russian/Western tradition is that the brides enter, then after Odile arrives, the national dances happen. Other versions like Grigorovich's Bolshoi production, Nureyev's POB version, or Kevin McKenzie's ABT version have the divertissements before the waltz, Odile's entrance, and the pas de deux. Between these two choices (Choice A: waltz of the brides -> Odile's entrance -> divertissements -> pas de deux, and Choice B: divertissements -> waltz of the brides -> Odile's entrance -> pas de deux), which interpretation do you prefer?

Generally speaking, I think both have their subjective pros and cons. Personally I really like the traditional structure (waltz -> Odile's entrance -> divertissements -> pas de deux) because in-universe I think it gives Siegfried and Odile time to spend some private time, and for their dancers, more time to prepare for their pas de deux), but some of the choreographers I mentioned earlier come earlier - specifically Grigorovich and McKenzie - manage to make the "Divertissements earlier" approach work well dramatically. In the Grigorovich one, Siegfried, Odile, and Rothbart (here called the Evil Genius) have a powerful dancing scene together, then Rothbart/Evil Genius has a solo of his own while the other two go offstage for a bit. McKenzie meanwhile has Rothbart dance a solo to the "Russian Dance" music to charm the court, which I think fits the mystique vibe he and Odile put on for the ball scene. But I'd be interested in hearing what others think of the ballroom act structure, though, because there are many ways to interpret the scene/act.

Edited September 25, 2023 by Ray Boucher
Fixed a sentence discussing Rothbart/EG's character in the Grigorovich version of "Swan Lake."