Interview: Lead Dancers and Director of Operations for Nashville Ballet's SWAN LAKE

Even if you’ve never seen a single production, chances are you’ve at least heard of Swan Lake. Maybe you’re like me and had your first exposure to the story thanks to the 1994 animated movie The Swan Princess. Maybe you became familiar with it thanks to Barbie of Swan Lake or BLACK SWAN. Regardless, there’s no denying that the classic ballet has been engraved in pop culture. Of course, not everyone who has heard of Swan Lake knows exactly what goes into a production. What better people to ask than those who have to quite literally step into the shoes of the lead roles? From February 27 to March 1, Nashville Ballet will be presenting Swan Lake for the first time in eight years. Not only did I have the opportunity to attend a VIP dress rehearsal, but I also had the pleasure of meeting some key figures in the show. In a little room with a window overlooking the rehearsal studio, I interviewed the four lead dancers; Colette Tilinski and Lily Saito, who are to share the role of Odette/Odile, and James Lankford and Jorge Emilio Peña, who are to share the role of Prince Siegfried. I also had the pleasure of meeting Katie Vasilopoulos, the Director of Operations for Nashville Ballet, and Dr. Morel Enoch Harvey, who once starred as the Swan Queen all the way back in 1962.

The leading roles in Swan Lake, Odette/Odille and Prince Siegfried, are top contenders for the most difficult roles in the history of ballet. Why is that? For starters, Odette and Odile are played by the same dancer because Odile is supposed to be disguised as Odette. Colette Tilinski said that playing both roles is a challenge because they’re so different. “Odette is more soft and lyrical,” she explained, “but she also has a strength to her that we really want to portray onstage. Odile’s physicality is more intense, and she’s very energetic. I think showing the contrast of the two extremes in the characters is the most demanding artistic challenge within Swan Lake.” Lily Saito added that plenty of stamina is required for this full-length show. “The steps are very non-forgiving,” she said with a laugh. While Odette’s moves are gentle and meant to mimic the gracefulness of a swan, Odille’s scene requires fast-paced dancing and multiple couple dances and solos back-to-back. One of her dances is about five minutes long. Yikes. Just when I thought that Odille had it worse, Jorge Emilio Peña chimed in with a not-so-fun-fact about his role; “The most difficult part is that I still have to have the energy and strength ‘till the end of the scene for the overhead lifts.” Usually, he’d have to hold the lift for about fifteen seconds, but it really depends on when the audience stops clapping. I told him that when I see the show, I’ll make sure to limit my clapping. As for James Lankford, it was important for him to remember that this “stereotypical prince” was also a human being. “Yes, there is a princeliness to him, but there should still be humanity to it.” 

As music played in the rehearsal room on the other side of the window, the conversation switched over to the iconic status of Odette/Odille and Prince Siegfried. With countless talented dancers playing the roles over the years, it can be impossible to avoid being compared to those who came before. I asked all four dancers if they’ve ever been concerned about being compared to other dancers or living up to expectations. Having appeared in Nashville Ballet’s last production of Swan Lake eight years ago, Colette remembered observing the Swan Queen. “I think it’s important to take what you like, but also make it genuine to your way of dancing and your own artistic expression.” While she feels pressured to handle the technicalities of the role, she also believes that it’s important to take every role and make it personal. James also feels a bit of pressure, especially since there are two different leading couples who will be performing for different audience members.  However, he doesn’t let it get to his head, and he spends no time comparing himself to other people. “I think it’s really important, especially with a role as demanding as this, to stay in your own lane and really focus on what you need and how you want to portray it,” he said. He finds this peace in knowing that no one can do it like him. Jorge is in the same boat, as he likes to visualise his character in his own way. “I like to imagine everything as if it were an actual thing, so I don’t think there’s any other person who can imagine like I am imagining right now,” he answered. Other than the consistency of Act Three, he doesn’t feel the need to do what everyone else has already done. Lily chimed in to share that she also doesn’t feel like she has to live up a standard. She added, “It’s more so if I can be the best version of who I can be in the role, and bring a sense of self into the role as well.” 

Like so many other children, my parents showed me ballet on TV and in person. I remember watching these beautiful ballerinas dance around in their tutus and thinking, “I want to do that!” While my limited ballet lessons never led me to a promising career as a ballerina, I’m still performing as an actress to this very day. Plenty of parents are going to bring their children to this show, and most of those kids will be begging Mommy and Daddy to sign them up for lessons. I asked both couples if they had any advice for the kiddos who will watch them onstage and would want to be like them. When Lily was eight, she saw Swan Lake for the first time and knew that she wanted to do it someday. “Anything is possible if you put your mind to it and if you commit to it,” she said. Jorge agreed and added, “You have to do whatever you need to do for yourself, but with your full energy and commitment.” While most children would start ballet before the age of ten, James didn’t start until he was fourteen. Although there isn’t a wrong time to start, it still takes a lot of time and effort. James revealed that “ballet literally demands so much from you,” and then admitted that he missed his own prom to focus on ballet. Still, if you truly love something, you put in the effort. “We all choose that for ourselves,” he added. “It’s not like anyone is forcing us to do it.” Like Lily, Colette wanted to do ballet after seeing a show as a child. And like James, she had to make some sacrifices in her childhood in order to be where she is today. She doesn't regret it, though, stating, “The reward is the moments you get onstage with yourself and your colleagues and your partner that are just fleeting. You’ll never get those moments again, and I think that is the reason we do it every day. We get those magical moments.” 

After some serious questions, I decided to end my interviews with both couples with a joke question. I asked, “When you got cast in Swan Lake, did anyone make references to BLACK SWAN?” Every single one of them said “yes”. No surprise there. I will not say who, but only one of them has yet to see the movie, and the others have thought about doing a viewing party. As someone who has seen the movie countless times, I wouldn’t call this a good idea. One of the dancers pointed out how contemporary some of the dance moves are in the movie, and they admitted that they may or may not have added some of those moves to the show. Now that you all know that the dancers have been asked about the movie countless times, we can put this to rest. Not every ballet dancer works in a toxic environment and sees things that aren’t there. The fact that Mila Kunis’s character is seen dancing without her hair up in a bun should make it obvious that the movie isn’t completely accurate.

Once the dancers had left to warm up for the VIP dress rehearsal, I got to sit down with Katie Vasilopoulos, the Director of Operations. Before settling into her current production, Katie started as a dancer in Nashville Ballet’s Second Company, NB2, back in 2008. When Katie was still a dancer, three different productions of Swan Lake came around. Unfortunately, she only made it onstage through one full-length production due to multiple injuries. However, she got to retire from dancing in the best possible way. Back when the company was slowly coming out of digital works during Covid and back to live shows, Katie got to perform an excerpt from Swan Lake for her final performance. As Katie put it, it was “a nice way to say goodbye”.

Since multiple companies have produced Swan Lake multiple times, each show needs to stand out‌. For Katie, the company’s secret weapon (well, it’s no longer a secret thanks to me) is choreographer Paul Vasterling. Paul made this particular version around 2012, and it’s heavily inspired by a plethora of historical productions. “He is brilliant in condensing and storytelling, so our production is actually shorter than others. He’s really good at bringing different aspects of the storytelling together, but in a way that isn’t just adding things to add things.” Since the company hasn’t done the show in eight years, what Katie thinks is really going to stand out this year is that “a lot of the dancers are either doing it for the first time or are stepping into big roles for the first time”. Out of the four lead dancers, Colette is the only one who had done the show eight years ago. And unlike James and Lily, Jorge had just joined the company last year. The fact that all four dancers with different time spans and experiences in the company get to do this together is incredible. 

Once again, I brought up BLACK SWAN. I asked Katie if she was tired of people bringing up that movie, and she replied, “No, because any cultural reference that’s talking about ballet gets people interested in what we’re doing.” She can confirm that while the movie is accurate in how brutal preparation in ballet can be, the company is not at all toxic and everyone is supportive. I also mentioned how one of the dancers pointed out that some of the dance moves in that movie were contemporary. I asked Katie if she was afraid that ballet was more contemporary because of movies like that, only for her to state that Nashville Ballet does a mixture of different things and that she isn’t concerned. At that point, I had completely forgotten that I had seen a poster for a ballet adaptation of Sherlock Holmes when I first entered the building earlier. Having a mixture of classics and contemporaries can be very beneficial. “They are great training tools because they really make the dancers hone in on their technique,” Katie continued, “and even as we do some other contemporary works and other shows, that technical foundation needs to be so strong.” As much as the company likes to keep the classics in their repertoire, they keep up with the changing times in more ways than one. Katie brought up the fact that the company had since transitioned from having the dancers use the typical pink tights to using custom-dyed tights and shoes to match their skin tones. “We allow every dancer to shine as an individual,” she remarked.

Out of all the classic ballets to survive the sands of time, Swan Lake is the one that most people think about. Out of all of the stories that ballet has told over the years, what makes the story of a girl who is turned into a swan and falls in love with a prince the one that gets told the most? According to Katie, the themes are so relatable. While none of us will ever experience being turned into a swan and needing someone to break the spell with their love, meeting someone who changes your life in some way is so universal. Of course, it’s not just the story itself that draws people to the ballet, or even the dancing; it’s also the music. The score is so iconic that horror movies like Dracula and Abigail have included the iconic overture in their scripts. The music is just so recognizable. “Even if you’re not a ballet lover and you come for the symphony,” Katie explained, “you’re going to find something you love.” Since the show is so iconic, it’s only fitting that it’d be the theme for Nashville Ballet’s upcoming Ballet Ball on March 7th. It’s the company’s largest fundraiser of the season, and it will also celebrate the company’s fortieth season. Out of all the shows to use for the event’s theme, Swan Lake is just perfect.

After my initial interviews, I got to attend the Relevé Society VIP dress rehearsal. Relevé Society is a social group for arts enthusiasts that connects its members with Nashville Ballet performances and exclusive experiences, with membership costing $100 per season. One of the many attendees in the room was Dr. Morel Enoch Harvey, a member of the Advisory Board. Not only is Dr. Morel a lifelong supporter of Nashville Ballet, but she was once a ballet dancer. As a matter of fact, she once danced as the Swan Queen all the way back in 1962. She even wore the same crown that first adorned her head all those years ago. For her endless support, she was presented with a gift, which included a review of the exact same production from 1962. I decided to snag one last interview before the reception, and Dr. Morel was such a nice person to talk to. As we observed the dancers gathering up their stuff to go and change, she commented, “They expect more lifting out of the dancers today than they did from us back in the day.” Of course, even if the expectations today were the same as back then, she stated that she would’ve trained her body to keep up. “I take good care of my body,” she said, which is why she still looks amazing after all these years. Like myself and so many other performers, Dr. Morel was drawn to the stage at a young age. Her parents took her and her sister to a show when she was around eight years old, and she knew that she had to be up there one day. To this day, the world of ballet still lives in her heart. As she put it, “I never left.”

Nashville Ballet’s Swan Lake runs February 27 to March 1 at TPAC’s Jackson Hall. The Ballet Ball will be held at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center on March 7th. Get your tickets today!