Houston Ballet
For a ballet that flopped at its première in 1877, Swan Lake has defied the odds and come to epitomize ballet at its most achingly beautiful. Houston Ballet unveiled a splendid new version in February at the Brown Theater in Houston’s Wortham Center, with choreography by Artistic Director Stanton Welch. Balancing tradition with innovation, this new production may irk purists, but it does touch the heart.
There’s plenty of glorious dancing. In places, Welch has simply amplified Petipa and Ivanov’s familiar 1895 choreography, but more engaging is his choice to change the ballet’s noble prince and doomed maiden from cardboard figures into flesh-and-blood characters. The Swan Queen Odette, cursed by the evil knight Rothbart to be a swan by day, is first seen as a maiden at night. When she and Prince Siegfried meet and fall in love in a darkened forest, passionate dancing and a real kiss replace the formality of pantomime. We are so swept into the lovers’ story that Odette’s transformation into a swan before our eyes elicits chills.
There is, however, some muddiness to this production. Partly to blame are plot changes, like the exit of the court just before the Black Swan Pas de Deux and the unsatisfying resolution to the ballroom act. The biggest disappointment, however, is the scenery, by the late Kristian Frederikson, who died before his designs were realized on the stage. Frederikson might have made adjustments, but as it is, Act I—in shades of gray and cool greens—feels cold, and the ballroom decor looks gaudy not grand. The costumes are more appealing.
The dancing more than makes up for any design lapses. It’s not possible to over-praise this corps. Their unison work at the lakeside is exquisite, especially at the end of the White Swan Pas de Deux when all the swans, as if with the same breath, lift their eyes to the sky and then lower them, finishing—heads nestled on a shoulder—on the last note. A series of overlapping, impeccably danced, solos follow. Gone are the clunky walking entrances; instead, variations unfold like images seen through a kaleidoscope. As “Duet Swans,” Kelly Myernick and Jaquel Andrews soared.
There is also more dancing for the princesses, who first appear in Act I and then again in the ballroom. Nao Kusuzaki as the Russian princess and Melody Herrera as the Neapolitan princess gave especially musical performances.
Mireille Hassenboehler brought virtuosic majesty to Odette/Odile and warmth to her moments as maiden. But while Andrew Murphy’s Siegfried was technically strong, his characterization lacked the nobility that would have kept him from disappearing into the crowd. Zdanek Konvalina was more successful as Siegfried. A sense of an inner dialogue during his soliloquy in Act I made it genuinely convincing. Corps de ballet member Bridgett Zehr made an impressive debut as Odette/Odile dancing with Konvalina. Their passionate youthfulness fulfilled Welch’s vision beautifully.
Virginia Johnson is the editor of Pointe magazine.
