Review: Australian Ballet’s Swan Lake at The Lowry

Oct 16 2008 Chester Chronicle

AUSTRALIAN BALLET’S SWAN LAKE/The Lowry, Salford Quays, until October 18

REVIEW/by Peggy Woodcock

SO MANY Swan Lakes I have seen, but never one as beautifully different as that of the Australian Ballet, at The Lowry, Salford Quays, on Tuesday.

You could have heard the proverbial pin drop as the production started with Odette, a lone, slowly moving, white-clad dancer on a silent, darkened stage. As the first chords of Tchaikowvsky’s haunting score began she was joined by her prince for a loving, erotic pas de deux.

Then we were at their wedding! It was such an elegant Edwardian affair, the ladies gowned, the men, not in tights, but suited. But distracting the bridegroom was the beautiful Baroness, the Odile figure in the ballet, making three in this royal marriage.

Yes, Swan Lake by this Melbourne based company has become a human love story, not a fairy, story, with echoes of Charles, Diana and Camilla. But there was nothing tabloid about this superb, crafted, atmospheric production.

Instead the removal of the fairy element made the ballet immediate, accessible, and intensely emotional. As the story unfolded it was Graeme Murphy’s remarkable choreography which illustrated the emotions and interpreted the music in a rare fusion.

It was a fascinating mix of supreme classical, modern, ballroom, character, even, I would say, American smooth! Intricately clever, especially in the two pas de trios, it created these superb lines. Lifts and holds were often breathtaking.

We had this amazing dance mix in the wedding and a further glamorous black and gold party scene. But then, ah, we had ballet blanc in the frozen lake scenes which became, here, dream sequences for an Odette confined in a sanatorium by her errant husband and his lover.

Both soloists and corps gave us lyrical, yet disciplined classical dance of the highest order. Here was all the pathos we associate with Swan Lake and it was to the frozen lake we returned for a finely danced, spectacularly staged, heartrending finale.

Central roles were performed with real chemistry. Madeleine Eastoe as Odette, Danielle Rowe as the Baroness and Robert Curran as Siegfried made the tortured love triangle work with superb, strong performances both in dance and portrayal. The night belonged to Eastoe, though, rarely off stage, a poignant, unforgettable Odette.

With music by the BBC Phlharmonic Orchestra conducted by Nicolette Fraillon, this is a must-see, and not just for ballet fans.