Pennsylvania Ballet's "Swan Lake' (2nd review)

Roy Kaiser made an intriguing casting choice for the dual role of Odette/Odile in the Pennsylvania Ballet's current production of Christopher Wheeldon's Swan Lake. He passed over some of his principal dancers and three of his four soloists, partly out of necessity: Two of the company's principal dancers are pregnant, and soloist Barette Vance is sidelined with a back injury.

But instead of letting soloists Gabriella Yudenich or Abigail Mentzer perform on some of the nights, Kaiser as artistic director split all seven performances between two dancers: soloist Brooke Moore and corps member Lauren Fadeley. He is "looking to the future by cultivating younger dancers with promise," Kaiser told the Inquirer.

Only one of his choices proved capable of the role.

Different body types

Both Fadeley and Moore demonstrated the technical skill to dance both parts (no surprise: Kaiser wouldn't have cast either role without it). And here, Fadeley scored a slight technical advantage.

As the White Swan Odette, Fadeley's phrasings looked more pronounced and fluid than Moore's, and her gestures unfolded with greater crispness. Some of this advantage boils down to simple geometry: Fadeley and Moore possess different body types. Fadeley's thinner physique presents sharper angles in contrast with Moore's more robust and athletic appearance.

When Moore stood next to Francis Veyette's Prince, she matched his stature, whereas the diminutive Fadeley offered a more traditional height pairing with Zachary Hench. Strangely enough, Moore's lifts appeared effortless, and definitely easier. Moore's height also lent her a far more regal bearing over her corps of swans, while Fadeley faded into the flock.

In any case, Fadeley's technical superiority only extended so far. Moore wavered a bit in her unassisted arabesque. But Fadeley spun through a wide arc during her fouettes en tournant, a series of turns that Moore could have danced on the head of a pin.

Body issues and occasional missteps aside, Fadeley's minuscule technical edge fell far short of Moore's brilliant, inspired performance in the dual roles.

Arms betrayed by face

For the most part, Acts II, III and IV of Wheeldon's Swan Lake follow Petipa and Ivanov's original libretto. The crossbow-wielding Prince ventures out into the woods (in Wheeldon's version, a dreamscape) and espies Odette, a human imprisoned in swan form. Only true love will set her free.

As Odette, Fadeley's wispy wavering arms told a story that her face failed to mirror. During the Act II pas de deux, she developed greater depth of feeling, tingeing her yearning with the sorrow of her curse. But Fadeley lacked initial trepidation and consequently could show only a muted progress in her eventual surrender to the Prince's affections.

Although Moore's gestures were not as fluid, her Odette layered each movement with expression and meaning that signified its place in the performance. When Veyette led her through a turn, she met his eyes midway through the arc; when he called her to cross the stage, even her hands acquiesced. More important, her eyes and face alighted with a coy shyness that morphed into hope and later fear.

Moore's greater maturity

Act III requires a dancer to tackle the real challenge of Swan Lake by briefly transforming into Odile, the Black Swan that tricks the Prince into betraying Odette. In this role, Moore's greater maturity and sense of character rendered her Odile as an alluring and dominating seductive force.

During the Prince's Act III seduction, Odette whips across the stage toward him in a line of quickly executed turns. Each 360-degree rotation culminates in a slight pause; and at each, Moore's eyes locked onto Veyette's, leveling him. The chemistry between the pair poured out from the stage— she exercising her power, he succumbing and then crumbling in shame when she tricks him.

Fadeley, on he other hand, offered only a contrast between the doe-eyes of her Odette and the big stage eyes and grin of her Odile. Consequently, she and Hench displayed no signs of what should have been an intense, desperate affection.

Moore's little touches continued through Act IV. When Veyette as the Prince tried to rekindle their love with the same professed gesture he had given Odile, Moore flicked her head to the side as she snatched his hand away. The sudden harshness of the moment caused one audience member behind me to say "Ouch!"

Whom to anoint?

If Kaiser planned this casting as a way to choose a principal to replace the retiring Martha Chamberlain, he could favor Fadeley's minor technical advantage. Certainly, the repertoire of the Pennsylvania Ballet—built on Balanchine— demands precise classical technique. Athleticism matters too, particularly in the fast-paced pieces of resident choreographer Mathew Neenan, who weaves explosive movements and lightning paces into the rich emotional tapestries of his works.

But as the near capacity or sold-out houses for Swan Lake prove, the audience still favors the long-form narrative works. The principal parts in these pieces require classical technique presented by a performer who inhabits a part. Of the two women Kaiser cast as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, only Moore fit that job description.♦


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