Though Karen Kain, Christopher Stowell, & Robert Binet’s choreography (after Erik Bruhn, Lev Ivanov, and Marius Petipa) is challenging and technical throughout the whole of the National Ballet’s overall excellent update of Swan Lake, the indoor passages lag with slow storytelling and traditional bow breaks that pause the action and break the fourth wall. It’s all very beautiful but, narratively, the relative emptiness of the famous story becomes too hard to miss.
But when they get to the lake, then the production really soars.
Leading lady Genevieve Penn Nabity is a brilliant Odette, bringing strength and beauty to her white swan and intriguing glee to the black (glee, by far a more interesting choice than straight malice and a rare moment when an unexpected acting choice steals a classical dance scene). A graceful technician but, just as notably, a strong athlete, Penn Nabity appears lined up to be the company’s next prima (a role she’ll unofficially inherit from the great Heather Ogden who dances her final Odette in this run) and her ascension feels like an important promise in a rebuilding phase for the company. Leading man Ben Rudisin is not quite as steady on his feet but is nevertheless thoroughly dashing.
The corps de ballet, on the other hand, in particular the virtual army of perfectly synchronized swans, doesn’t miss a beat. They’re like a magic trick, stunning in memorable formations, defiant, protective, and intense. Though the uniformity of execution isn’t totally there, the high highs of Karen Kain’s swan song Swan Lake are thrilling.
