Review: Ballet Preljocaj's Swan Lake

Ballet Preljocaj

Swan Lake

The Lyric, QPAC

May 31

The French contemporary dance company, Ballet Preljocaj, last toured to Brisbane in 2016 with its visually striking production of Snow White. The company’s return is again courtesy of Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC)’s International Series, which has supported tours of major international companies to Brisbane since its inception in 2009.

Despite having created numerous narrative works, it was not until 2020 that choreographer and Artistic Director Angelin Preljocaj felt equipped to undertake a reinterpretation of what he refers to as the ‘Everest’ of classical ballets, Swan Lake. The result is a visually stunning, although somewhat dystopian, exploration of the original plotline of cursed young love, but in the context of the very contemporary issues of corporate greed and ecological decline.

With this context largely explained by the expansion of what were originally mainly character roles, Preljocaj’s version has Siegfried (Antoine Dubois) as the son of a ruthless property developer (Romain Renaud), who conspires with the magician Rothbart (Redi Shtylla), also an industrialist developer, to thwart the two lovers and eco-warriors, Siegfried and Odette (Théa Martin). Siegfried’s protective mother (Agathe Peluso) is also in the mix.

The formal structure of the ballet, although shortened to just under 2 hours, remains largely unchanged – a brief prologue showing the capture and transformation of Odette into a swan, followed by 4 scenes. With no interval, however, one’s staying power is tested.

The dramatic arc is underpinned largely by selections of the original Tchaikovsky score and other short excerpts from his works, with the more dystopian elements of the story expressed by the electronic music of French artists 79D. The segue to and from the classical is cleverly seamless, and the whole score was brought to sparkling life by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra under Glenn Christensen.

Visually, this Swan Lake is compelling – stark and brooding. Design elements key to propelling the story are largely created by extraordinary video projections onto the cyc (Boris Labbé), although images of heaving city and industrial scapes sometimes pulled focus away from the on-stage action. The lighting (Éric Soyer) is also darkly moody and the dominating colour palette largely monochromatic. Costumes by Igor Chapurin are also predominantly black or white, with the only splash of primary colour in the first scene being the short dresses of the female corps.

Preljocaj gives only a passing nod to Petipa and Ivanov in creating this work, the vocabulary being more informed by postmodern influences like Merce Cunningham – precise, crisp movement, especially of the arms, along flattened planes, with a low centre of gravity and in multi-directions. Combined with elongated balletic lines, this created some particularly effective large ensemble moments, always clearly articulated by the dancers; for instance, the opening waltz with a repeated motif of grand battement retiré á la seconde, which was in perfect synchronicity with the musical beat.

Unison is also used throughout for impact, perhaps a little too often, but again to greatest effect in the large ensembles. One such moment has the whole company walking in different directions around each other, arms cutting the air in geometrical patterns, before merging into front-facing lines, becoming one powerfully unified mass of movement.

The white act, its bare stage and cyc washed in shades of pale blue, gives the biggest nod to the original. Here, unison is expected, and the 16 corps de ballet swans delivered, their short white chiffon ‘tutus’ simple but evocative. A clever remodelling of the cygnet variation, including sassy hip thrusts, brought chuckles from the audience, while Martin and Dubois gave a poignant interpretation of their pas de deux of intertwining arms and legs. The music is so recognisable, however, that memories of the Ivanov original choreography threatened at times to intervene.

Not so with the iconic black swan pas de deux, which was shaken up with this sinuous re-interpretation, and where Martin as Odile was more dominatrix than temptress. Her interpretation of the Odette/Odile roles clearly showed the divergent qualities of each.

Pas de deux between the protagonists are used to drive the narrative, but not always successfully. A duet between Peluso and Dubois at the top of the ballet clearly showed the tenderness of their mother/son relationship, but duets involving Rothbart or Siegfried’s father were less transparent. Renaud and Shtylla each had a commanding on-stage presence, but with both dressed entirely in black, combined with the moody lighting, their movement was often difficult to read.

While this Swan Lake has much to like, it didn’t engage in any visceral sense. The final moments showing the dying Odette juxtaposed against the projection of a rising industrial landscape were most poignant, but the dramatic journey to get to this point lacked cohesion between the original plotline of thwarted love and its new context of ecological warfare. Nevertheless, for its visual impact alone, or the fine dancing of the Preljocaj company, it’s worth catching before the season ends on June 7.

– Denise Richardson