By BRUCE DENNILL
Swan Lake / Joburg Ballet, Cape Town City Ballet and Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra / Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg
Swan Lake is arguably the major classical ballet easiest to pitch to audiences who aren’t too familiar with the art form, and its major musical motifs are familiar to just about anyone who has listened to orchestral music for any appreciable amount of time. As such, any new staging of the ballet generally incites excitement and appreciation in audiences, but there are layers to this production that make it particularly notable.
Many sectors of the arts world are hampered by needless and petty politics, so having two of the country’s biggest ballet companies collaborating creates a powerfully positive scenario, particularly because the partnership extends to sharing input at all levels from funding to costumes, rather than merely having dancers from one company appear in guest roles in a production mounted by another or similar. Then there is the presence, in the pit, of the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Eddie Clayton, with the rich tapestry of sound created by more than 50 musicians and their instruments creating a far more nuanced atmosphere than is possible with a recorded soundtrack.
The opening night cast saw Joburg Ballet dancers in the lead roles, with Ivan Domiciano perhaps the pick of the bunch as the Jester. If that sounds odd in a storyline in which there are princes, evil magicians and tragic swans, then Domiciano deserves even greater kudos, giving the character unwavering intensity, with every expression and physical action sharp and decisive, even when the Jester is lounging on the edge of the stage, watching other characters’ solos.
Monike Cristina as Odette-Odile is typically elegant and Gabriel Fernandes adds muscle to his Van Rothbart’s brooding menace.
The large corps de ballet adds spectacle and heft every time the dancers combine for an ensemble sequence, with the Cygnets (Chloe Blair, Genevieve Magua, Alexia Munn and Isabella Redman) and the Fiancees (Chloe Blair, Ashton Harris, Isabella Redman and Hannah Ward) combining beautifully, mixing precision and poetry in their shared choreography.
Gorgeous, rich costumes – especially the Queen (Anya Carstens), her attendants, and the Czardas and Mazurka dancers – add to the visual impact, partnering the impressive technical capacity of the combined company.
