By Heather Wisner
With Saturday night’s premiere of its reimagined Swan Lake, Oregon Ballet Theatre has essentially broken a long dramatic spell, spinning what is usually a tragic love story into something more hopeful.
The key is its shift in perspective. OBT Artistic Director Kevin Irving–aided by choreography from resident choreographer Nicolo Fonte, rehearsal director Lisa Kipp and school director Anthony Jones–tells the story through the eyes of its prince, Siegfried, emphasizing his trajectory from coddled heir to sober young king.
Many of the traditional elements remain in place, from the forest where Siegfried meets Odette amid a swirl of swans to the ball where he is expected to choose a bride. But there are two significant changes. Rather than heading to the forest to hunt with his new crossbow, Siegfried is transported (via an enchanted crossbow) to a forested dreamscape that his father has created to teach his son to distinguish fantasy from reality.
As in the traditional version, Odette tells Siegfried that a sorcerer has cast a spell over her, which can be broken only by one man’s faithful love. Siegfried pledges himself to her, but changes course the next night when a swan princess in black garb appears at the ball. Thus Siegfried fails his father’s test: had he paid closer attention, he would have realized he had the wrong swan. By Act III, Siegfried is transported back to the dreamscape, where younger versions of his parents dance together, his mother in swan garb. It’s a metaphor, perhaps, for the importance of recognizing real love. Despite the supertitles and program notes, a healthy suspension of disbelief is your shortest route to clarity here. (Start to question how the crossbow facilitates the dreamscape, or why the entire court can also see the illusion, and you’ll never get to sleep at night.)
That’s a small thing. The ballet succeeds overall, thanks to its collaborators and performers. Filippo Sanjust’s pastoral village and spooky moonlit forest set the scenes, while Michael Mazzola’s lighting design underscores the drama, darkening the stage and the spotlighting Siegfried as he begins to realize his mounting responsibilities. The OBT orchestra plays Tchaikovsky’s thrilling score live, and costumer Sandra Woodall contributes a dark sparkler of an Odile costume and a neat bit of headwear that punctuates the ballet’s final scene.
Irving also has some fun with some of Siegfried’s potential brides, including two wildly enthusiastic Spanish girls (Makino Hildestad and Emily Parker) and a pokerfaced Russian (played to comic effect by Eva Burton). As Odette, Xuan Cheng embodies a fluttery mix of fear and wonder, while Peter Franc brings weightless jumps, clear pantomime, and a believable dramatic arc to Siegfried’s journey.
Strengths: The ballet’s skillfully executed production elements–lighting, set, costumes, live music–buoy the drama; comic ballroom variations offset the dramatic tension.
Weaknesses: A premise involving Odette/Odile as an illusion created by the king; sometimes it’s hard to know where the illusion ends and reality begins.
Most Significant Performers: Peter Franc’s Siegfried matured before our eyes, gradually absorbing his father’s lessons and accepting the mantle of responsibility.
Take-away: This Swan Lake retains enough traditional elements to please purists while ending on a more hopeful note than most productions do.
– Heather Wisner for The Oregonian/Oregonian Live
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Oregon Ballet Theatre’s “Swan Lake”
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday, Feb. 23-24; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25
Where: Keller Auditorium, 222 S.W. Clay St.
Tickets: $29-$146, obt.org or 503-222-5538.
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