Review: SWAN LAKE presented by The Washington Ballet at Kennedy Center

A dream was realized as the Washington Ballet presented Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake at the Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theater.

Julie Kent, Artistic Director and Victor Barbee, Associate Artistic Director and the entire company have given us a Swan Lake to savor. The Washington Ballet's production of this beloved classic is performed with sensitivity and an urgent sense of dramatic passion.

The many years yeas of striving to showcase this integral ballet of the repertoire has paid off with a synergistic production where each member of the company plays a vital part and contributes to the unified feel of the ballet. The ballet had a crisp air of confidence, yet it never imposed itself by favoring one element over another.

To my mind's eye, this oft performed (and even parodied and satirized) ballet has become so drenched in the collective imagination that it was a pleasure to see a production that was done with evident discipline and striving------yet the result was never strained; the result was a gorgeous and ravishing production. The meticulous details of coordination, staging, and training were conveyed in a Swan Lake that was decidedly aesthetically pleasurable in every way.

This was a Swan Lake that filled the stage with vigor and movement almost continually. Technical training was evident in the larger group scenes as well. The dancers in the company who portrayed the village women and men celebrating with garlands and flowers, the Mazurka men and women dancing in the court and the Spanish women and men entertaining the court were all given full reign for the cohesive tone of the ballet.

Every plié, jeté and fouetté was executed with grace and polish in this lithesome Swan Lake.

The corps de ballet was stunning in synchronized precision and movement from the flutter of their raised arms and the tiptoes of their feet. (The alignment of the tutus was also in perfect synchronization!) The Dance of the little swans was performed with graceful charm. Though the Eisenhower stage might have been a little cramped at times for the dynamic force of this company, the corps de ballet and other dancers in the company were very well staged and choreographed.

The night I attended, Katherine Barkman was exquisite, lovely, and fragile in her challenging balletic role of Odette as well as more cunning and assertive in her portrayal of the evil Odile. The Janus-like portrayal was mesmerizing and held my rapt attention. Ms. Barkman danced like a dream throughout with a superb sense of control yet sensitivity. The Black Swan pas de deux with Siegfried was executed beautifully.

Particularly superlative was Ms. Barkman's 32 fouettés, or whip turns on one leg ---which according to the program: "was a virtuoso feat first introduced by Pierina Legnani in 1985 which still dazzles audiences today."

Masanori Takiguchi was technically superb in his portrayal of Prince Siegfried. Mr. Takiguchi's leaps across the stage were enthralling and powerful in execution. Mr. Takiguchi was also very in command yet expressive in his interactions with Ms. Barkman.

Both Ms. Barkman and Mr. Takiguchi were acknowledged with sustained applause and shouts of "bravo".

The evening I attended, Tamás Krizsa was haunting in the role of the evil Von Rothbart and Rinat Imaev was engaging and danced with presence in the role of Wolfgang. Kristina Windom played the Queen Mother with proper regal bearing and Rench Soriano portrayed Benno.

This Swan Lake also worked well in the context of a larger theatrical experience, and this may foster appeal to an even wider demographic. The breathtakingly detailed scenery and costumes courtesy of Ballet West and Adam Sklute, Artistic Director, were beautifully detailed and appropriate to the period as well as the mood of this transporting ballet.

Scenic and Costume Design by Peter Cazalet is expert. The hiding place of Von Rothbart, the marble columns of the royal court and the forest/lake are transporting in imaginative power. Costumes were resplendent in purples and gold and earthy with russet and brown colors. Scenic delineations such as the royal ballroom and the lake mists and the forest were vividly drawn, and I wanted to freeze the visual moments in time like little epiphanies.

The staging of the townspeople cavorting around a maypole, the dance by the foreign visitors, and the lanterns glowing in the dark, are vivid images which will stay with me and linger in the memory.

Tchaikovsky's Music was played with fiery urgency, enchanting bewitchment, and dramatic vigor under the spellbinding conductor baton of Charles Barker. The Washington Ballet Orchestra was attuned to the essence of Tchaikovsky and the ravishing beauty of Tchaikovsky's music illuminated every balletic moment.

Lighting Design by Brad Fields was evocatively employed.

Kudos and Bravos to Julie Kent and Victor Barbee who have staged and added additional choreography after the original choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov.

The final image of the swans, slowly descending into the lake's mists (as a tribute to the reunited Siegfried and Odette) is an image I will not soon forget.

The Washington Ballet has given us a Swan Lake to cherish.

Running Time: Two Hours and 45 minutes with two intermissions.

Swan Lake was presented February 8th through February 13th, 2022 in The Eisenhower Theater at Kennedy Center which is located at 2700 F Street, NW, Washington, 20566. For information go online.

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