Rather than the ‘traditional’ ending, here it is far darker, with Siegfried collapsing (dying?), Odette transforming into a swan and being trapped in the spell forever and Von Rothbart, having transformed back into his bat/birdlike form, triumphant. The ‘Black Swan’ pas de deux in Act 3 here is far more a pas de trois for Siegfried, Odile and Von Rothbart with Von Rothbart manipulating – one could say perhaps say hypnotising – Siegfried and almost blatantly controlling him. The six princesses Siegfried is required to choose from are (as is common in quite a few versions) in very similar dresses in shades of dusty pink and carry rather distracting gold fans shaped like mirrors.
The national dances in Act 3 are performed almost right at the start of the Act – in this version they are welcome expected guests and not Von Rothbart’s uninvited ‘creatures’. The mime for Odette telling Siegfried of her story and warning him of the spell is retained from a previous Royal Ballet version. Throughout the work there is more emphasis on the male dancing with the male roles expanded (especially for Siegfried and Von Rothbart, but also in Act1 for example with the huge corps de ballet of male dancers having their set piece ensemble with the polonaise). In Act 1 in particular Nureyev has added a lots of extra fiddly, fancy, almost Ashton like footwork for the dancers.
Everything apparently is in Siegfried’s mind ( the ballet opens with him asleep in a chair – is everything a dream ?). This version is quite dark and can be read as Freudian, especially in the relationships between Siegfried, his Mother and the tutor Wolfgang/Von Rothbart. Costumes ( Ezio Frigerio who also designed the sets) are lavish, opulent and exquisitely detailed. The ‘lake ‘ is simply staged with a low ramp of steps and a very atmospheric use of projections. It is spectacularly staged with dark russet colours and gold for the court scenes of Acts 1 and 3. Nureyev uses as a basis the ‘traditional ‘ Petipa/Ivanov choreography ( especially for the ‘White’ Acts 2 and 4) to a degree, but with a twist and extra flourishes and additions of choreography. As part of the Palace Opera and Ballet season, this is a very strong revival of the 1984 version by Rudolf Nureyev. Swan Lake is one of the most loved and iconic ballets.
0 kommentar(er)
