Tag Archive Swan Lake

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The Comfort of Swan Lake

The ballet Swan Lake needs no introduction. But a blog post does. So by way of introduction let me start by saying that if you are only going to see one ballet in your lifetime, it should probably be Swan Lake, and Pacific Northwest Ballet is one of the best places to see it. I’m not going to do a full review because I’ve done that before, and except for the person sitting behind me who told his friends, “I didn’t look at the booklet, like at all, because I didn’t want any spoilers,” I think most people have a pretty good idea what to expect anyway. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have anything to say about it.

Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancers Leta Biasucci and Kyle Davis with company dancers in Kent Stowell’s Swan Lake, on stage April 15 – 24, and streaming digitally May 12 – 16, 2022. Photo © Angela Sterling.
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Classic Dicks in the Canon

One of the most frequent – and most valid – arguments against the contemporary relevance of classical art forms like opera and ballet is their heroine problem. Misogyny is an unfortunate and unavoidable conclusion when the canon is littered with stories whose female characters are subjected to the virgin/whore binary and who usually end up dying for love regardless of in which category they are placed.

Philip Newton Photo c/o Seattle Opera

But then I watched the Met’s stream of Norma – a bel canto exception filled with strong, complicated women. In that opera, Pollione, the male romantic lead, starts out as one of the most obnoxious men in theater, a real dick. But he repents and redeems himself with an act usually reserved for the soprano – dying for love. His character development is so unusual that it got me thinking about men in opera. Women might get short shrift, but men aren’t portrayed very nicely either. Normalizing their bad behavior is another facet of misogyny, but the fact remains – if you believe the classics, men are just dicks.

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Pacific Northwest Ballet Season Encore

Pacific Northwest Ballet corps de ballet dancers Amanda Morgan and Sarah Pasch with company dancers in Diamonds from Jewels, choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust. PNB is presenting Jewels, with new sets and costumes designed by Jerome Kaplan, September 22 – October 1, 2017. Photo © Angela Sterling.

Pacific Northwest Ballet dancers Amanda Morgan and Sarah Pasch with company dancers in Diamonds from Jewels, 2017. Photo © Angela Sterling.

This is the first season that I’ve attended any of Pacific Northwest Ballet’s “extra” events – like performance previews, lectures, and now the Season Encore performance. Although it’s called a season encore, it’s not just a highlights reel of the past season. As I wrote yesterday, it’s also a farewell to departing dancers. In fact, several pieces performed at Season Encore were not even from the last season.

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The Evolution of Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Swan Lake

Lesley Rausch as Odette© Angela Sterling

Photo by Angela Sterling c/o PNB

Swan Lake is almost the definition of “canon” for classical ballet. What could be more rigid and tradition-bound than the most famous ballet? It turns out, a lot of things can. Swan Lake has changed a lot from its premiere in 1877, and even today, every performance is a little different. Since it’s also performed every three or four years in Seattle, we can actually watch the evolution of Swan Lake.   Read More

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Music I Liked Last Week – Archspire, Raven Hollywood, Be’lakor, Tchaikovsky

portable cassette player

Image by Gratisography

Last week was tough. I was sick and I had deadlines. But when the going gets tough, the tough listen to music. Not a lot, though. I’d put on an album then not noticed when it finished. But a few things penetrated the fog. This is what stood out last week.

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