Swan Lake: A Classic Tale of Good Triumphing Over Evil
December 31, 2024 •
The Coral Springs Center for the Arts featured Swan Lake on Sunday. {Martin Lenkowsky}
Honesty is the best policy.
Therefore, a word of caution: Do not expect this review of the State Ballet Theatre of Ukraine’s enchanting performance of Swan Lake Sunday at Coral Springs Center For The Arts to read like other theatrical critiques, namely because this writer is a far cry from one’s picture of a well-versed and culturally sophisticated expert on the fine arts. Had it been a Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, or Fleetwood Mac concert, I’d offer a much better insight.
This was the second time I was fortunate enough to see this Eastern European ballet troupe. Last year, also during the holiday season, I saw them perform Cinderella. I admit, one of the reasons I wanted to see them was because of the horrific warfare being unleashed upon their homeland by that thug named Putin. I was expecting – actually looking forward to – politics intertwined with music and dance. Surprisingly, the entire performance was apolitical in nature. It was only about the music and dance.
This year’s performance did slightly touch the realm of politics, at least subtly, when during the opening Tchaikovsky musical piece, most of the dancers came out clad in yellow and blue, the now-familiar colors of the Ukrainian flag.
Now, back to the review. The costumes and dancing were exquisite. The lead female ballerina (Odette) played the dual role of the black and white swan, symbolizing this timeless (from the 1870s) fairy-tale theme of good vs. evil, with incredible charm and grace. Her dance with Siegfried, the handsome prince who saved her from evil magician Rothbart’s spell, left the audience completely absorbed in its beauty. For one, I was enthralled by her fluid arm movements as a swan.
The dancers playing Siegfried and Rothbart were also flawless in their routines, complementing the classical beauty of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s musical store. And, of course, there was the phenomenal, energetic performance of the hilarious court jester.
One thing I thought worthy of mention is that, unlike in most classical fairy tales, the notorious villain in Swan Lake is a male. Usually, that dubious distinction belongs to an evil stepmother. This writer once pondered that very question as to why that is. A female friend was fast to point out, “because the storytellers were always the men.”
Swan Lake was written by Tchaikovsky in 1876 and is one of the world’s most familiar ballets. The beautiful, melodic theme from Swan Lake, also called Song of the Swans, is one of the most recognizable pieces in the classical music repertoire.
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