Nikolaj Hübbe & Silja Schandorff:
"Swan Lake"
Royal Danish Ballet
March 31 - April 1 2015
The RDB “Swan Lake” sets new standards for what we can expect of our fine female corps de ballet. It is simply breathtaking to watch the flow, the musicality and the precision of the corps. They dance as one body. You do not even notice the individual dancers.
It therefore seems strange that none of the five casts as Odette/Odile seen so far scores the perfect ten. All of the casts comes to the role with a good resume from dancing leading roles in classical and neo classical ballet. Yet the role eludes them. Part of the reason is probably that it also eludes the directors.
The changes made to the plot, although they strengthen the performance in others areas, weakens the relationship between Siegfried and Odette. The conversation and explanations falters and the relationship are tapped for meaning.
The strategy of changing cast for each performance have probably also led to that each casts gets fewer full rehearsals. A general pattern has been that several of the Odile’s runs out of steam in the Black Swan Pas de Deux.
Going Black
An exception to this pattern was Ida Praetorius, who grow visible stronger during the performance:
Ida Praetorius is used to getting roles early, beginning with “The Lesson” as a first year apprentice and the mature role as Marguerite Gauthier in John Neumeier’s “Lady of the Camellias” earlier this season. Nevertheless, even with her resume Odette/Odile is a daunting task. I had expected her to be more comfortable with the white swan. But it turned out the opposite of my expectations.
Her Odette in the first act showed beautiful lines but also a certain caution. It was as if she held herself back a little and did not put much sway in her movements.
However, it was as Odile she really came alive as both a dancer and an actor. The black swan pas de deux also brought out the best from Marcin Kupinski and together they found the energy and brilliance connected with the pas de deux.
For the finale outing of Odette, she found both the expressions and the soft movements for the touching and hurt Swan Princess. She only needs to bring this subtlety to her first act to get the coherency right for the full performance.
Starting Strong
She was followed as Odette/Odile by American Caroline Baldwin, who have previously danced Aurora in Wheeldon’s “Sleeping Beauty” but otherwise is the Odette/Odile with the shortest resume. Baldwin is a musical dancer with a beautiful legato in her movements. She is not as willowy as the ideal “Swan Princess” is so she has to work hard to create the illusion of being a swan.
Baldwin’s game plan worked in the first half but as Odile, she ran fast out of steam and never really recovered the upper hand.
Her partner was young and upcoming star Andreas Kaas. He managed to build an equally likeable and gullible prince. His make or break role, Armand in “The Lady of the Camellias” has taught him to communicate with the audience, he let his beautiful lines, and high extensions do the work.
Don’t put Siegfried in the Corner
Andreas Kaas and fellow Siegfried Sebastian Haynes have in one season established themselves as leading men of the company. They are way beyond promising. They are delivering the goods. Dramatically they outshone Principal Dancer Marcin Kupinski who partnered Ida Praetorius.
Save a very fine Black Swan Pas de Deux, Kupinski was unable to build a strong and present Siegfried in a production, which somehow have forgotten to focus on its key role. The two young dancers managed to hold the attention of the audience even in the weaker first act, where Siegfried are left to his own devices while Rothbart makes all the intrigues and most of the dancing.
In spite of these obstructions by the directors, in general the Siegfried’s has succeeded better than the Odette/Odile’s. The RDB have an impressive group of strong male dancers. Moreover, that may be reason why Rothbart and Benno is getting more than their usual quota in this production.
The role of Odette/Odile demands more than the role of Siegfried. You do not only have to be a strong dancer. You also have to be a specific body type and be a lyrical dancer as well. At best, the RDB have 3-4 dancers who fits the bill, so the six-cast strategy is risky.
However, with a limited number of big scale productions per season, Nikolaj Hübbe tries to give as many dancers as possible the chance of a leading role, even though it is not a good fit. What needs to happen is looser strings, so the company can perform more productions and give those dancers the roles that fits them. However, it will demand a change of strategy from the Royal Theatre management and that is probably a long time project.
Photos:
Copyright(c) Royal Danish Ballet
1. Ida Praetorius as Odette and Odile by Rasmus Weng Karlsen
2. Ida Praetorius in Neapolitan Dance by Costin Radu
3. Andreas Kaas as Armand in "Lady of the Camellias" with Ida Praetorius by Costin Radu
4. Caroline Baldwin in "Manon" by Costin Radu
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