Performance of "Swan Lake" Below Par

By Broadside Photography Editor Courtney Erland and Broadside Staff Writer Amanda Loerch
Photo by Broadside Photographer Randy Urick

Last Saturday, the St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre performed to music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake.

Under the artistic direction of Yuri Petukhov and with the choreography talents of M. Petipa and L. Ivanov, the company delightfully demonstrated the mastery of the traditional Russian Ballet to Tchaikovsky’s musical compositions.

The gestures and movements of the dancers made it easy for the audience to follow the story throughout the production.

In the first act, the audience is introduced to Prince Siegfried, portrayed by male dancer Y. Mirov, during his coming-of-age party. His mother, the Queen, portrayed by Yulia Ilyina, interrupts the party and pressures Siegfried to find a suitable bride by the next evening’s ball.

The uneven execution of the choreography by the group made the performance seem disjointed, as the dancers on stage were a few steps ahead of the stage left dancers.

After leaving the party, Siegfried stumbles upon the lake where the swans are gathered and watches as they dance.
He instantly falls in love with the queen of the swans, Odette, performed by Anastasia Isaeva, and learns of the curse placed upon them by magician Rothbart, performed by Sergey Davydoy, before the act ends.

Isaeva did a splendid job performing her swan dance. Her arms closely resembled wings as they moved flowingly and gracefully to the music.

“She had great technique, grace; really acted the part overall. She really drew the audience in,” said Staisy Kibart, a junior music education student, of Isaeva.

Kibart was not pleased with Mirov’s performance. “He was able to do a lot of great lifts—which were beautiful, but in terms of leaps and his jumps, they didn't seem very strong.”

Surprisingly, the first act belonged not to the primary characters, but to the court Jester, performed by Alexander Abaturov.

Of all the performers in the first act, Abaturov was the most energetic and lively, both impressing the audience with his technique and high leaps and pirouettes and making them laugh with his funny facial expressions.

Towards the end of the second act, Odille, who resembles Odette from the lake and is also played by Isaeva, mesmerizes Prince Siegfried and he falls in love with her.

After Prince Siegfried expresses his love to Odille, he sees
an image of swan lake and snaps out of his trance. In one of the most dramatic scenes, filled with smoke and dark lighting, Odette and Prince Siegfried try to reach one another, but are unable.

He rushes back to the lake in order to see Odette and apologizes for what he’s done. Rothbart appears and the Prince defeats him in battle.

Happily in love, the Prince and Odette dance together. With Mirov supporting her, Isaeva held a beautiful arabesque and then did an arabesque penchée, bringing her leg directly into the air at a 180 degree angle.

The performance ended with a standing ovation as Yuri Petukhov, the artistic director came out onto stage to take a bow with the cast.

This sold out performance was well performed by the women of the cast while the men were just satisfactory. They looked stiff and their leg extensions were not up to par.

All in all, Swan Lake as a whole was a good performance and the audience seemed to enjoy the dances and the characters.