Swan Lake
Image: Starry Night - Vincent van Gogh, 1889
The National Ballet’s production of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake took you beyond the theater seat and into the fantasy world. Graceful dancing, stunning set design, and beautiful music transported Toronto’s Four Seasons Performing Arts Center.
The dance corps was strong and jovial in the celebrations of act one, while passionate and strong in their defiance in the second act. The ballerinas glided gracefully, the ballerinos flew in their full strides. The corps’ support punctuated the main characters wonderfully in their skill and grace.
Perhaps what I found most impressive, and I was lucky to have been sitting in the 5th ring to witness it, was the pattern on the stage which could be seen from above. In the second act the corps shined in their accuracy and evenness of the rows and lines. When they formed rows by snaking the line on stage, they were perfect in their timing and proportion from each other. When the flock of swans were formed in a semi circle in their stand off against Rothbart, their formation was balanced and striking. When they wavered against the battering of the antagonist’s wings, the point of each dancer’s arm as they all folded back really showed defiance and unity against their oppressor.
This caliber of dancing was maintained throughout the whole piece, with the Dance of the Cygnets, performed perfectly to each beat. It was beautiful and moving.
The set design was visually stunning without being overwhelming. An extra retractable curtain of swan wings draped over elven-art deco style architecture of the castle ballroom, and then later over the dazzling gem-encrusted masquerade style second act made one feel as if they were witnessing a story book brought to life (or perhaps a vintage Disney film with the layers of visual drawings to cast perspective.)
Costuming was beautiful but also had some drawbacks. In the first act castle scene, the cool tone pastel colour palette left some to be desired, and at times felt lost in the colour of the set, especially noticeable for a scene of celebration and excitement. The second act however, in the masquerade scene, the costumes were glitzy and gorgeous. Gowns, suits, and masks decked out in thousands of gemstones kept all eyes glued to the stage, while paying homage to some of our other favourite fantasy characters like Alice in Wonderland's Red Queen.
The change of scenery to the dark forest, with strategic shadows and projections of water on the stage made for a compelling and complimentary ambiance when paired with the dancers.
The undoubted star of the performance was Tirion Law, who danced the role of Odette. Her skill and technique were wonderful to watch. Especially impressive was her amazing bouré, which when paired with her graceful arm movements made her appear to truly float across the stage like a true swan gliding through the water. Her grace and passion when dancing did well to share the story.
Her counterpart, Prince Sigfried, danced by Naoya Ebe, did well and was skillful. Agile and poised, he represented well a character of noble status. What impressed me the most, was his strength and sturdiness. While I am unsure how tall Ebe is, when he lifted Odette at full extension, he showed no signs of difficulty or wavering, whisking her high across the stage.
The final component, Rothbart, was likely the best costume in the whole production. An intriguingly tall headpiece and giant wing extensions for the dancer Josh Hall's arms, all culminated in portraying them as compellingly evil sorcerer. What their costume had in terms of visual interest, made up for a rather uninspiring set of choreography for the character. Now, is it within their character to be doing overly ornamental dances, no, not necessarily. However, his style seemed to be more of the ‘make your presence known then flee the scene’ style. Hall played the part of commanding antagonist well, but the choreography felt a bit bare.
The production was an undoubted success, with all performers doing splendidly with choreography that was tight and in-sync with the wonderful orchestra directed by Julian Pellicano. The production looked gorgeous and was seamless, with amazing tricks like using a flowing sheet to look like shadows and interchanging dancers upon each pull back was such a clever idea and spoke to the high level of the entire experience.
While Swan Lake's run has ended for 2025, the National Ballet is a company you must put on your radar for high quality Canadian lead art productions.