The Mariinsky Ballet presents Swan Lake with all the authority of a long tradition — or, you may say, a sense of entitlement. Petipa and Ivanov’s classic was created for this company at St Petersburg in 1895, and Konstantin Sergeyev’s version of 1950 is still the production we see today. It is a feast of fine dancing, and differs from most western stagings in perpetuating the Soviet-era “happy ending”, rather than the tragic original.
The overall spectacle is gorgeous, the view of the lake in the swan scenes wonderfully atmospheric and mysterious; and here we see one of the great glories of the Mariinsky, the female corps de ballet as the swan ensemble, maidens transformed by a spell. They dance in formations of faultless unison, every movement and pose suggesting an image multi-replicated. This is perfect discipline, but not regimentation — because the whole effect is of lyrical poetry.
At the heart of it on the opening night of the Mariinsky’s latest showing at Covent Garden was the Odette/Odile of Viktoria Tereshkina, poignantly tragic as the swan princess, dazzlingly commanding as her Black Swan alter ego. As Prince Siegfried, captivated to love her, but duped into betrayal, we saw Xander Parish, who joined the Russian company as its first Briton. His elegant, princely manner, long-limbed physique and technical bravura were allied to a youthful, sensitive characterisation. This performance was crowned by his promotion to the top rank of principal.
In 1977, Rudolf Nureyev, himself a product of the Mariinsky (then named the Kirov), created a lavish, overcomplex production of Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet for the company that is now English National Ballet. For its 40th-anniversary revival, ENB returned after nine years to the Royal Festival Hall — not an ideal venue for this. The lighting restrictions gave us many dingy scenes, leaving the designer Ezio Frigerio’s lovely Veronese backdrops all but invisible.
The stage looked crowded, but the performances were vigorous and committed, with strong work from featured soloists. Nureyev departed from the music’s scenario to accommodate more references to Shakespeare in plot business, imagery and symbolism. Too often, this just doesn’t work as a ballet.
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Also, the piece is hugely overchoreographed, crammed with steps and hardly a breathing space. Romeo and Juliet don’t even stop dancing for the wedding sacrament. In the Act III bedroom pas de deux, we read in the synopsis that they consummate their marriage, but I can’t see where they found the time, with all that lifting and lugging.
On Tuesday, Erina Takahashi was a fleet and conscientious Juliet, and Isaac Hernandez was a physical powerhouse in Romeo’s endless solos, which Nureyev created on himself. Hernandez acted agreeably as well — when there was any scope left for it.
Swan Lake
Mariinsky Ballet, ROH, London WC2
Romeo & Juliet
English National Ballet, RFH, London SE1