Black Swan

I have seen The National Ballet's version of Swan Lake a few times, including last Fall. But like numerous patrons, I went to another remount on Saturday specifically to see the new Principal Guest Artist Svetlana Lunkina. This "prima ballerina" recently "fled" from the Bolshoi Ballet to settle in Toronto, during the whole acid attack fiasco. She has since danced in a few minor roles with the National Ballet, but everyone wanted to see her in the spotlight. And what better ballet than this.

Immediately, I was struck by the sharpness and precision of her movement, rendering her rather bird-like. It fitted well with her role as Odile, which in Kudelka's version is literally a swan and not merely a woman ensorcelled. But the obverse is that her interaction with Evan McKie (Siegfried) lacked a touch of romanticism, except in the 3rd act when Odile was overcomed with grief from Sigfried's betrayal.

But her style was perfect as Odette. From the moment Lunkina flew into the palace court-room in glittering black, she was commanding, alien, alluring. Of course, all versions of Swan Lake have Odette perform the bravura 32 fouettés (kick turns). She was great, but not exceptional; Lunkina didn't drift but her leg was dropping near the end. A minor technical issue to a beautiful performance.

I wasn't quite as enamoured with McKie. Siegfried's role in Swan Lake is fairly low-key. In many scenes, he stands around. So it was imperative that in his solo moments, he should draw all eyes. Like other Siegfrieds I've seen, McKie had shaky foot-work and over-rotations. But as a partner for Lunkina, he did a great job.