BOSTON BALLET, SWAN LAKE, BOSTON, MAY 1992 |
| From: THE BOSTON
HERALD, May 4, 1992 Dance Review by Iris Fanger SOLOISTS TAKE SWAN LAKE UP A LEVEL
Although the heart of the ballet Swan Lake lies in its corps of swan maidens undulating in waves of synchronized gestures, its soul is surely imbedded in the character of the Swan Queen, torn between the hell of bondage to the evil magician and the heaven of a perfect love. In Nina Ananiashvili’s performance Saturday night, the artistry and technical mastery that make the role the ballerina’s Hamlet came together in a glorious outburst. From her first entrance in Act II, sliding in sideways... on point with bourees, her arms like wings in flight, back arched in imitation of the swan, Ananiashvili made a viewer believe in Odette’s dilemma. By casting her opposite customary partner Alexei Fadeyechev, who is also a principal dancer with Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet, instead of teaming her in an under-rehearsed match with a Boston prince, the subtle ingredients of liming and bonding were intrinsic to the performance. Ananiashvili’s third-act variation came as a surprise because of an interpolation of different music and choreography from the Bolshoi repertory. Some of the fireworks came from the tempos, increased to keep up with her. The eye contact between her Odile, the wicked alter-ego of the Swan Queen, and the Prince amounted to a suggestion of hypnosis, in keeping with the theme of enchantment...
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