Every year, in every company around the world, there will be a run of sold-out Swan Lakes. But it’s much rarer to see a Swan Lake that lives up to Tchaikovsky’s majestic score. A performance that is not just routine. American Ballet Theatre kicked off its week of Kevin McKenzie’s Swan Lakes. No, the stuffed swan in the prologue does not look less ridiculous, nor has the severely abridged fourth act gotten less offensive. But I wasn’t there to see McKenzie’s Swan Lake. I was there to see Chloe Misseldine.
Chloe Misseldine was the Odette/Odile that everyone wanted to see. She had made her debut at Kennedy Center a few months prior, but this was her New York debut. From the moment Odette ran onstage with her big grande jeté, Misseldine looked like one of ballet’s blessed swans. She has a long neck, even longer arms, beautifully tapered legs and exquisitely arched feet.
As for her acting, she has a natural dignity. With time her interpretation will grow, but for now we can marvel at how firmly drawn it already is. She has a lyrical style: soft arms, relaxed shoulders, a pliant back. She also has an ability to carve out positions and then to hold them. Her legs can slowly rise and fall with total control. This is all crucial in adagio work.
It is not perfect. For one, she doesn’t connect the steps as seamlessly as a more experienced Odette. There were still moments when you could see her thinking and counting. If you ever saw, say, Uliana Lopatkina or Nina Ananiashvili, you could see how the steps flowed into each other like cream. Misseldine is not there yet, but she will be.
Misseldine’s Odile was even more vivid. She was sexy, cold and dazzling. Her technique is strong. I loved how she used her long legs almost as knives to slice through the air. If I were to nitpick one thing, it’s that her pirouettes in attitude in Odile’s variation looked a bit wonky. Her fouettés were excellent. Alternating doubles and singles, traveled a little. But even if she had not done any fouettés, I still would have found her Odile impressive.
Aran Bell as Prince Siegfried was also exquisite. He is such a strong partner, but also conveys the youth and callowness of Siegfried. Like Misseldine, he is long of limb and elegant of matter. His swan dive at the end of the ballet was the best I’ve ever seen. He made a complete crescent moon with his body as he jumped. But more importantly, he and Misseldine had a natural rapport and chemistry.
ABT’s problems casting Swan Lake’s smaller roles hasn’t gone away. For one, conductor Ormsby Wilkins’ tempi were painfully, glacially slow and took the tension away from the ballet.
The pas de trois was unimpressive. Paulina Waski struggled in her solo, flubbing turns and falling off pointe a few times, while Sierra Armstrong was notably fresher. Patrick Frenette was fine as Benno. But this is tired choreography no matter who is dancing.
Purple Rothbart was meant to be a flashy solo in the middle of the ball act. Marcelo Gomes and David Hallberg were two notable former Purple Rothbarts. Joseph Markey made the solo look rote and tired.
But this was Misseldine and Bell’s show. You could feel the audience energy rise as they realized they were witnessing something truly special. The best part of the performance happened after Odette and Siegfried dove into the lake and the curtain came down. In the middle of the rapturous ovations, Artistic Director Susan Jaffe came out and promoted Misseldine to principal. Aran Bell stepped back and let Misseldine have the solo bow in front of the curtain. It was such a classy, gracious gesture.
A star was born, and she was launched into the galaxy. How lucky I was to see it!
