magic in the moonlight

Impressions from this run of Swan Lake at PNB, after seeing all nine performances, are listed in no particular order.

After seeing Swan Lake in Paris, San Francisco, and Milan, PNB’s/Kent Stowell’s Swan Lake is still my favorite version, because of the fourth act, and the corps staging in the second act. The swans, the ruins-like set, the lighting are magic, dreamlike.

All five of the Odettes in this run were exquisite, with Noelani Pantastico’s performances as standouts for me.  Tonight she was also especially dazzling as Odile, seeming to take risks in timing. (WOW, the fish dive/drop with stellar partner Seth Orza… did they plan that?… and that centrifugal force spin near the end?)  And this afternoon, Lesley Rausch was dazzling in a more controlled way… a flawless performance, with triumphant joy after thrillingly rocking the fouettés. Laura Tisserand’s beautiful lines and emotional performances, Elizabeth Murphy’s clarity and vulnerability, and Sarah Orza’s achingly beautiful arm ripples and timing choices (what a debut!) all wowed me. All five of them broke my heart at the end, especially Noelani.

All five of the Siegfrieds were very fine.  The standouts for me were Karel Cruz (as always … if not for the music, would he spin forever, and hover in the air forever?) and Dylan Wald, who made an impressive debut while still in the corps de ballet.

Regardless of the leads, the 24-swan ensemble is the real star of this ballet.

And the orchestra. And that epic score.

Beyond the swans, the czardas is my favorite group dance.  I especially enjoy watching Steven Loch dance this dance (as well as the Spanish dance) with such gusto.

In the role of Wolfgang, it’s hard for me to choose a favorite between Ezra Thomson and Kyle Davis; both steal the first act show.  Both played the character with increasing richness as the run progressed, and both made me laugh out loud today.

My favorite seats in the house for this ballet are front role left of center, because I get to see the comic relief unfold up close, have the longest possible view of Odette’s final exit, experience the flock rustling when they are running circles and serpentines, and have no one else between me and the orchestra. It’s also a convenient location to quickly exit at intermission and dash to the secret bathrooms near the lecture hall that almost no one else uses.

It was a dream to be immersed in this run.  Now it’s time to catch up on sleep and return to regular life, but hopefully carrying a bit of the magic inside me until the next time.

the swans are here

It’s swan season again in the Pacific Northwest. Once again I’m seeing all of them.  It’s what I do.

Last night’s Odette/Odile, Noelani Pantastico, was transcendent. I feel unable to articulate how beautiful and moving her performance was.

The entire production was especially magical last night.  Whatever the next six performances bring, and all the future swans, last night was a dream that I hope lingers for a very long time.

 

The season of The Sleeping Beauty is upon us!

This year, some Seattle-ites are excited about the Super Bowl.

Me, I’m excited about the four performances plus dress rehearsal of the Pacific Northwest Ballet’s The Sleeping Beauty that I’m gonna see between tonight and February 9.

Perhaps you recall my little obsession with Swan Lake last spring.

Rather than swiping PNB’s photos and/or writing more, I’ll leave you with a link to PNB’s own blog for some background to the magic.  And this preview video.

homebody’s guide to Swan Lake

Remember that post I did a couple months back about getting the best bang for your buck at the opera?  No?  Well, that was written before I saw the renew-your-subscription-for-the-next-(unappealing)-season brochure and decided not spend my artsy entertainment bucks and time on opera next year.

No, sirree, instead, I’m dedicating my audienceship to the ballet. One ballet, over and over again, while it is in season.  This past weekend I saw Pacific Northwest Ballet’s splendid production of Swan Lake.  And then saw it again.  And, um, have already purchased tickets for two more performances next weekend.  Swan season in Seattle is brief – two weekends every three years or so, so I decided to gorge on it while it lasts.

photo borrowed from PNB’s blog with apologies for any misappropriation

I’ve never seen the full length Swan Lake before this past Saturday, only excerpts, those famous duets (and a quartet) that get performed as part of evening dance hodgepodges, like short stories, and various bits shown in movies.  I knew the story: boy/prince meets girl/enchanted swan after being commanded by his queen mum to marry and running off to the lake with his buddies to go swan-hunting with crossbows.  Girl is only girl by moonlight; otherwise is beautiful white swan entrapped by spell of evil sorcerer who looks like an owl, with spell that can only be broken by true love.  Girl begs boy to spare swans, dances tenderly with smitten boy, while surrounded by the beautiful flock…

… until sorcerer summons her away.  The next night boy must attend a bride-finding ball thrown by the queen mum with lovely princesses and entertainment from other countries.  Boy rejects all potential brides until the evil sorcerer disguised as a nobleman shows up with his daughter, looking very much like the girl/enchanted swan, but wearing glittery black and seductively strutting her stuff, very unlike the vulnerable girlswan the boy fell in love with back at the lake.  Nevertheless, after imposter girl does 32 fouetté turns on one leg,

… and boy does a whole bunch of his own impressive pirouettes, he then proposes marriage to imposter daughter girl.   Imposter daughter and sorcerer laugh cruelly and triumphantly and boy realizes his mistake.  Boy returns to the lake and apologizes to his true love.  Too late.  Girlswan dies.*  Boy is left heartbroken.  Curtain comes down.

So anyway, I finally saw PNB’s version on Saturday afternoon.  It was stunning – the entire ensemble and orchestra and sets and costumes – but I found my bargain-awkward-view subscription seat a little frustrating, and was curious to see how other lead dancers would interpret the roles.  The cast lists get posted on the PNB website shortly before each production, so it’s possible plan accordingly.  So I decided to see it again on Sunday afternoon with a different lead cast: my favorite PNB male dancer as the prince, and a ballerina I hadn’t seen much of before who is featured in a lot of the company’s publicity shots especially for this production.  I even splurged on a pricier ticket for a better view (farther away but unobscured).

The leads on Sunday were truly astonishing – at this point my all-time favorite ballet-viewing experience ever – and the different seat made for better viewing of the entire gorgeous flock of swans, beautiful sets, and the dazzling entertainers at the ball.  My proverbial socks were knocked off.

Carla Korbes, the ballerina who literally brought tears to my eyes in her white girlswan form on Sunday afternoon, is featured in this 2009 PNB advertisement:

and also appears at the 2:29 minute mark of this:

And her prince Karel Cruz, who seemingly can spin forever and hover in the air whenever he jumps, talks about and rehearses for another ballet with the same ballerina here:

I was so moved by Sunday’s show that I went home and bought a ticket to see Carla and Karel again next Saturday. And because I also really want to see ballerina Carrie Imler’s (another one of my favorites) interpretation, I decided to splurge on Friday night as well. And just in case she and her prince knock my socks off, too (and there are any affordable tickets left), I’m keeping Sunday afternoon open.

*Girl doesn’t always die, maybe even rarely dies … I probably acquired that misconception from that creepy 2010 movie … in PNB’s production, she floats away into the misty lake.