What a gift Derek Deane gave to English National Ballet when he made his monumental Swan Lake in-the-round. The unique concept works brilliantly at the Royal Albert Hall, and this season, as at so many performances over the years, it has been assiduously rehearsed so that not one feather on a single swan is out of place. The dancers watch each other constantly so that every line, every one of Deane’s ingenious geometrical patterns, is clear and accurate.
However, it certainly is not the proscenium version with which we are all familiar, so for a young junior soloist to step into the role of Odette/Odile at short notice is perhaps even more daunting than it would be in a normal opera house or theatre. How would Ivana Bueno, whose technical abilities have been well noted for some time but who has not yet danced a principal role in a major Petipa classic, cope with this, in many ways the most challenging of all?
The answer is that she coped very well indeed, helped by attentive partnering and support from her partner, Francesco Gabriele Frola, also debuting in this version. From the outset, Bueno was serene and expressive, using the upper body and ports de bras to offset her technical strength. As Odette she was warm but clearly a swan-queen of substance, regally marshalling her massive cohort of swan-maidens and determined that Siegfried should not have his hour with the crossbow.
As Odile, she brought glamour and panache, flashing her eyes, enjoying the conspiratorial moments with Rothbart, making the most of the fiery solo and the coda, undaunted by the fouettés. I am quite sure that in rehearsal she pulled off immaculate double pirouettes en dehors in attitude; in performance they weren’t quite there but she made up for it with lovely smooth turns à la seconde, sailing round blithely, feet and legs beautifully stretched and placed. An auspicious debut indeed, and a major step upwards on her career path.
Frola, with his technical prowess and intensely romantic stage persona, makes an endearing Siegfried. The height of his jump enables him to ensure that his tours en l’air are finished cleanly in a perfect fifth position, and he performed a stunning manége of grand jetés around the whole of the vast stage without, apparently, drawing breath. Elsewhere in the cast I noticed beautiful ports de bras from Precious Adams, the lovely upper body work (and stunning feet!) of Anna Nevzorova, plenty of excellent dancing from Daniel McCormick and Erik Woolhouse, and terrifically sinister acting from Fabian Reimair as Rothbart. Michael Coleman was clearly enjoying himself immensely as Siegfried’s Tutor. Plaudits too for the acrobats and jugglers, and for the children from Tring Park School.
Gavin Sutherland applied his customary sensitivity to his conducting, always supporting the needs of the dancers.
This production will run and run. Perhaps the time will come when a refresh of Act 3 will be deemed appropriate; many of the costumes are in deep colours that aren’t well served by the constraints of the lighting set-up in the Hall, and the red drapery that creates the “back” of the stage looks a little tired. Apart from these minor cavils though, as I said, it’s a gift.
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