Silja Schandorff & Nikolaj Hübbe:
”Swan Lake”
September 15 and 16,
2016
Royal Danish Ballet
The Opera Stage
The role of Odette/Odile in “Swan Lake” is not only a big role, it is the one, that more than any other role, even “La Sylphide” defines ballet as an art form. It is a hugely attractive role for a dancer. However, it is also a role that put enormous demands on the performer. Not only are the technical demands top scale. The role also demands a specific body type and an outstanding dramatic talent.
When Silja Schandorff and Nikolaj Hübbe created their version in 2015, they took the bold decision to go with no less than six casts. No company, probably not even Marinsky, will be able to present six Odette/Odile’s born to the part, and even though the Copenhagen version presented strong talents, the first run was unable to present an Odette/Odile who delivered on all parameters.
That is no longer the case.
From Different Worlds
The two first ballerinas out, principals J’aime Crandall and Ida Praetorius has shared many roles last season (Kitri in “Don Quixote”, “Theme & Variations”, and Juliet in “Romeo & Juliet”). Still, they are fundamentally very different dancers.
Ida Praetorius is a product of the company school and tradition. Her talent was recognized early and she has been trained to handle the special Danish tradition, technically and dramatically.
American J’aime Crandall had to take a more difficult road to the top of the company. Educated at The Kirov Academy in Washington, USA, she came to the RDB as a member of the corps in her mid-twenties after assignments in Korea and Holland. Nikolaj Hübbe discovered her talent and within a few years, she took her place among the top ballerinas. She also had the lack-of-height advantage to partner company stars Alban Lendorf and Jon Axel Fransson. She is an outstanding classical and neo classical dancer. However, the RDB tradition is as much a dramatic tradition, which has proved difficult to conquer for dancers with an international background.
With such different backgrounds and skillsets, who would be best prepared for the greatest of all roles?
No Tears before Bedtime
The first team out this season was J’aime Crandall and Alban Lendorf, who danced the opening night in 2015 and was the cast for the TV/DVD production made. For Alban Lendorf, who now shares his time between RDB and ABT, this was his first performance in a year, as he has been out with an injury and an operation.
One of the key changes in the Schandorff/Hübbe version is a bigger focus on Von Rothbart, who in this version is a scheming courtier as well as the usual conjurer. It make a great role, but it also limits the presence of Siegfried, especially in the first act. Neither in the last run or in this run has Alban Lendorf really been able to manifest himself in the first act. I do understand him being a bit cautious, due to the long injury time. As the evening run on, he pulled out the pyrotechnics but he did not deliver on the dramatic level, as he did as a very young Siegfried in the Peter Martins version partnering Gudrun Bojesen. That performance really launched him as a leading man and not just as a pyrotechnic. That is what he needs to pull out, not just for himself, but also for his partner.
Crandall followed his game plan and presented out a high technical content in Act three. Not the body type for Odette/Odile, nor a natural actress, she fights a hard battle and she cannot do it alone. There is a lot to applaud, but you do not get to the teary stage,which is where an audience wants to be.
Reaching her Maturity
When Ida Praetorius did her second run as Juliet this spring, it was clear how much her performance and interpretation had matured, since her first run in 2013. It was therefore natural to hope that her Odette/Odile would likewise develop since the first time out 18 months ago. We were not disappointed.
Like in Romeo and Juliet, Praetorius gave us an even stronger performance, technically and dramatically. Type wise she is more an Odette than Odile, but both characters gained more maturity and insight and the technical content was outstanding. Having the advantage of being long limbed and slim, the choreography looked better and you do get the “How did she just do that” experience that is harder to nail for a shorter dancer. Partnered by the solid, but not very exciting Martin Kupinski, she became the leader of the pair and set the pace and theme.
I cannot help wonder why, as her two Romeo’s Gregory Dean and Andreas Kaas is both in the lineup for Siegfried, it was not considered to renew one of the successful pairings.
Nevertheless, it was a truly outstanding performance and the best Odette/Odile shown on the Copenhagen stage since Gudrun Bojesen’s final performance.
The Rest is not Silence
This production uses every opportunity to create even more roles than usual for “Swan Lake”. Not only are Von Rothbart a bigger presence than usual, especially when handled by newly appointed soloist, Sebastian Haynes.Benno and the Fool also have bigger presence. A quartet of character dancers creates a government, here called the faculty, and the divertissements are meaty and original, courtesy of the two in-house choreographers, Oliver Starpov and Gregory Dean.
Schandorff and Hübbe has also used the opportunity to put on new and more cast on solos, trio and divertissements.
In the Hungarian and Russian divertissement, two great dancers, who both earlier seemed destined for the top of the company, Christina Michanek (earlier Olsen) and Hilary Guswiler (who danced Odette/Odile as a very young dancer) both showed that their potential and strong stage persona are still intact. May there be more good roles for them.
Eleven new dancers have joined the company. Benedicte Boier Thomsen has joined from the company school. The rest are from foreign ballet schools and companies. Several of these danced in the divertissements and one of them, Marina Minou proved her skills and talent in the first act Pas de Trois with upcoming Odette/Odile and Siegfried, Caroline Baldwin and Andreas Kaas.
RDB has a very exciting season in front of them. Next month will present a new Giselle, also by Schandorff and Hübbe. Christopher Wheeldon’s “Alice” is on in December and Balanchine’s “Jewels” in the spring. The company and it new members will get plenty of opportunity to shine and develop.
Starting the season with “Swan Lake” is setting up a high barre. Luckily the company seems ready.
Photos by Costin Radu Copyright(c) Royal Danish Ballet
- Ida Praetorius as Odette
- Alban Lendorf & J'aime Crandall as Siegfried and Odile
- Jonathan Chmelensky & Gregory Dean as Von Rothbart & Siegfried
- Ida Praetorius & Marcin Kupinski as Odette & Siegfried
- Hilary Guswiler in Russian Divertissement
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