Antonio Castilla’s 2018 production of My First Ballet: Swan Lake is an absolute delight from the start to its joyous conclusion. English National Ballet and English National Ballet School first collaborated on the My First Ballet series in 2012 and, judging by the packed auditorium at the Peacock in London, it has been a resounding success in its mission to introduce very young audiences to classical ballet.
It’s a reduced version, shorter and easily digestible and it’s narrated with charm and charisma by former ENB and Scottish Ballet dancer Araminta Wraith. With a number of very clever tweaks to the story (Lou Cope) there is a happy outcome as well as some moral lessons to be learned (as my companion, Iris, who is eight years old, pointed out).
In this production Odette and Odile are close childhood friends and Rothbart (Luke Jones), an aspiring wizard, is Odile’s brother. When he proposes to Odette and is subsequently spurned by her, he turns her into a swan. Later, when Rothbart persuades his sister to go disguised as a swan to the Prince’s ball, we find ourselves watching a plausible romance unfold. Odile actually falls in love with the Prince but upon discovering that he thinks she is Odette, she reveals her identity and reunites Prince Siegfried with her friend. She berates her brother and the spell is broken. Thus, according to Iris, her favourite character is Odile, because “she did the right thing for her friend”.
It isn’t just the story that has been reworked to make it child-friendly. Gavin Sutherland has done a remarkable job of rearranging the score and, while there are many cuts, it retains the essence of its beauty.
In previous years, the leading roles have been danced by junior members of ENB but this year the cohort of dancers was strong enough to be entirely student-led. Haru Yokoo as Odette possesses all the right qualities to become a very fine professional dancer. She has strong, neat footwork and beautiful lines and found a subtle melancholy to her character. As Odile, Lydia Rose Hough gave a very assured performance. She has already proved herself by coming second in the recent Margot Fonteyn International Ballet Competition and I believe she will be an asset to any classical company. She is a particularly confident ‘turner’ (of which there are many in this ballet) and she appeared relaxed while tackling the many challenges this role presents.
Other highlights included a very well drilled corps de ballet of swans, a terrific first act Waltz and a roster of excellent dances from Spain, Italy and Hungary. The famous cygnet dance started brilliantly but it's a tough ask and requires enormous stamina. The closing moments lost a little precision in the footwork, running out of steam, but plenty of potential on offer. The Spanish dance was particularly polished. Olivia-Senay Bayram, Iori Miura and Luke Wragg gave it plenty of pizzaz.
In the Neapolitan, Elsie Pinder and Riho Hayashi gave a sweet account of a tricky duet, the two friends vying for top spot and once again, delivering very difficult pirouettes at speed.
In the role of Prince Siegfried, Zai Calliste gave a very mature performance. He has a very striking stage presence and looks comfortable expressing his emotions. He has extraordinarily good pirouettes and is an exemplary partner. Having two different partners in one performance is not easy, but he seemed able to find their centres of balance without any problem and adjusted seamlessly to each of his leading ladies. He also managed a spectacular presage at the end of the first half, provoking the children in the audience to gasp and clap.
ENBS, under the artistic direction of Lynne Charles, is on an upward trajectory. Footwork has gained more clarity, more strength and personalities are being encouraged and developed. This presents in a more professional overall look.
And for what it's worth, my companion Iris did not want to be a ballet dancer before the show, had never seen a ballet and has not entertained doing ballet classes to date. By the interval, she had declared she wanted to go to English National Ballet School. That says it all. Apparently, she did Swan Lake arms all the way home!
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