It’s always lovely going to the Royal Opera House to see a ballet, and this production of Swan Lake was beautiful to watch.
The principals and soloists made everything look so effortless despite it being some of the most demanding choreography in the ballet repertoire. I found Marcelino Sambé as Benno particularly wonderful as not only was his dancing incredible, but his acting was superb too. In fact, for me, he gave the best performance of the night, and seemed to somewhat outshine Vadim Muntagirov’s Prince Siegfried.
The first time that all the swans were onstage in Act 2 and perfectly synchronised was completely mesmerising. It gave me goosebumps, and I think that it is one of the most beautiful scenes that I have ever seen at the ballet.
However, the actual pas de deux between Marianela Nuñez as Odette and Muntagirov’s Prince Siegfried left me somewhat cold – the dancing was beautiful but it lacked chemistry: there seemed to be more chemistry and warmth between the two of them at the curtain call than in their roles as lovers.
I felt that this was a ballet that required some pre-reading as the story was not the clearest from the choreography alone. And one thing that specifically struck me when I was watching this production is how formulaic ballets are. I’m not sure why this fact seemed to jump out at me this time as opposed to during any other ballet that I’ve seen – perhaps the lack of chemistry meant that I was less invested? - and I found it somewhat distracting.
However, despite this, this production was visually magnificent, and I’m glad that I have seen such a beautiful, classic ballet.