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Thays Golz channels her inner swan
The duality and musicality of Philadelphia Ballet’s Swan Lake
Camille Bacon-Smith
It’s spring at the Philadelphia Ballet, and the swans are returning to the Academy of Music from March 6 through 16. Swan Lake tells one of those fanciful 19th-century fairy tales with some of the most beautiful ballet music Tchaikovsky ever wrote. But for dancers like soloist Thays Golz, it is a beast, in the best way. Golz, who hails from São Paulo, Brazil, is no stranger to the swans. Philly audiences have seen her dance the famously difficult choreography of the four cygnets, which she loves for its intricacy and speed. And, she said, “You can feel each other, and it feels very strong and very powerful.”
Musicality of the swans
This year, Golz is taking on one of the great challenges in classical ballet: the dual roles of the white swan, Odette, and the black swan, Odile. The dancing is complex, and then there is the acting. The swan-women are fantasy characters, but we have to believe their emotions are real. “You are really digging through your soul,” Golz said. They are both strong characters, even Odette has layers: “She was heartbroken, and now [Prince Siegfried] is treating her in a way that makes her fall in love with him. But she’s scared to be heartbroken again.” For the black swan, Golz has to dig even deeper. “She’s very sensual, and she’s playing around with him.” But Odile can be sharp: “You are not dominating me here. I’m the one telling you what to do.”
Musicality helps distinguish the characters. Odette is aethereal, her movements elongated and softened, almost as if she is floating on a lake. The company has been working with Mariinsky prima ballerina Diana Vishneva to perfect the winglike flow of the arms. But it is not just the arms, Golz said. “[Vishneva] would talk about your breath and your chest, how that starts, and then the arms would follow.”
The black swan must fill the stage with her sharp, precise movement. “She needs to show that she is dominating the prince. It feels very powerful,” Golz said. “Usually, when you are doing a pas de deux, the guys are in control. But the black swan feels great because you are really taking control of this situation.”
The eyes have it
Every part of the dancer conveys the part she plays, not least the eyes. Golz said her Odette rarely makes eye contact with Siegfried; she looks down mostly, just darting a look to turn away again. Odile tilts her chin down a bit to give him a sly side-eye—very sneaky, she said—or tilts her chin up to look down her nose at him to show a bit more power. “But all the time, I am making sure he’s following where I want him to go. Yeah!”
The important part, though, is living the character on stage. “I think that’s what Diana Vishneva was saying. You cannot just make a face; it has to really come from inside. If you are only focused on your technique, it becomes heavy, and when you focus on your upper body, and your acting, and your breathing, your legs know what to do.
You can see Golz perform her first Odette and Odile at the 11am performance on Friday, March 14, 2025.
What, When, Where
Swan Lake. Choreography by Angel Corella (after Marius Petipa); music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Philadelphia Ballet. $25-$275 (plus fees from $4-$33). March 6-16, 2025, at the Academy of Music, 240 S Broad Street, Philadelphia. (215) 893-1999 or philadelphiaballet.org.
Accessibility
The Academy of Music has a wheelchair-accessible entrance on the south side of the building, which allows for direct entry to the main lobby. A curb cut at the corner of Broad Street and Locust Street allows for access to the sidewalk leading to the accessible ramp on the south side of the building. Find out more online.
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