Beautifully convincing corps de ballet, but sometimes uninspired solos. Photo by Sarah Weyman.

Despite being the second largest theatre (in terms of seats) on the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre’s international tour – which includes 50 cities so far in 2013 – the Teatro at Johannesburg’s Montecasino doesn’t have a particularly large stage, made even smaller by the ballet company’s beautifully elaborate sets. Add the corps de ballet of 24 swans and there is little space left for the principals and soloists.

However, we don’t think any stage on the planet could restrain prima ballerina Irina Kolesnikova. Her stage presence is so dramatic and magnetic that everything else fades into unimportance as she glides onto the scene.

Irina Kolesnikova as Odette in Act II. Photo courtesy of SPBT.

And ‘glide’ she does. As the anguished Odette, her movements are feathery soft and smooth, and her portrayal was so touching and absorbing that my little heart actually ached in empathy of her pain.

As Odile, however, her wicked deception was fierce and electric (as were her fouettés). When her evil con was revealed and she laughingly threw Siegfried’s love on the floor, I caught myself whispering under my breath what the rest of the audience was surely thinking too: “Bitch”.

In fact, the split-personality contrast of Irina’s dual roles had the ballet newbies next to us confused and amazed, asking “did she really dance both white and black swans?”; followed by their excited wide-eyed realisation: “oh my god, so she has to dance and act!”

Yes, that’s how prima ballerinas roll.

But not everyone in the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre (SPBT) cast manages to get that right – although you’ll probably only notice this when Irina is off stage, because you’re not really watching anyone else when she’s on.

Letting the flock down

The strongest contrast to Irina’s masterful performance was probably her principal partner, Dmitri Akulinin performing Siegfried. A little like Neo in The Matrix, he seems to only ever have one expression. Whether he’s happy, sad, angry or triumphant, it’s the same wooden look.

Swan Lake final fight scene with Dmitri Akulinin and Von Rothbart. Photo courtesy of SPBT.

In his favour though, Dmitri does have strength and his pas de deux partnering was perfectly seamless, just don’t expect dramatic solos. Unfortunately the same can be said for most of the male soloists, who lacked personality, precision and punch. Particularly the jester (Erkin Rakhmatulaev) and tutor (Dmitri Shevtsov) appeared a little too rehearsed, occasionally anticipating the others’ gestures too soon, effectively stealing any sense of spontaneity.

The notable exception here would be Rothbart performed by Dimchik Saikeev, who was powerfully menacing, further enhanced by his excellent costume changes and eerie red-eyed make-up. But even Rothbart and Odette’s presence couldn’t save the final fight scene from Siegfried’s unconvincing triumph. “Oh. Look. Um. I think I tore off Rothbart’s wing.”

Four little swans in perfect timing. Photo by Sarah Weyman.

Flying in formation

Acting skills aside though, when it comes to drama, SPBT still delivers plenty with their grand sets, bejewelled costumes and then there’s the corps de ballet of mesmerising swans, so perfectly in time and in sync, moving together as if by Russian magic.

The four little swans were particularly brilliant with their strong and fast footwork and their tick-tock, up-down, left-right movements. See more photos from their rehearsals below.

Though the stage did, at times, seem a tad small for SPBT’s big production, Montecasino’s impressive Teatro is perhaps still the most appropriate venue for Swan Lake, with seats rising all the way up to the clouds. And with Tchaikovsky’s haunting melodies delivered by the Johannesburg Festival Orchestra, it made for a rich and dreamy ballet experience.

If you haven’t done so yet, I’d suggest you make quick about booking those tickets (here), as 75% of the seats were already sold prior to opening night. It may be a while before you get to see such a grand performance of Swan Lake in South Africa by such a ballet company in high demand around the world.

Also, find out all the fascinating behind-the-scenes facts in this Swan Lake ballet infographic.

Have you seen this ballet yet? What were your thoughts? Whether you agree or disagree, tell us in the comments below.

The best of the Swan Lake rehearsal photos…

Click on the first photo to open the gallery.

Sanmarie Kreuzhuber displayed a beautiful strength as Kitri.
Photo courtesy of South African Mzansi Ballet

Call me greedy, but I just wasn’t satisfied with one performance of Don Quixote, so I had to go back for seconds.

It’s a good thing too, because even though both performances (by the South African Mzansi Ballet at the Joburg Theatre) had that sizzling Spanish spice throughout, it was revealing to see how different dancers can take the same basic ingredients and create a whole new experience.

Of course, everyone has a different palette and while some like it sweet, others like it spicy.  Actually, I quite like both and got both with Sanmarie Kreuzhuber and Shannon Glover, who each performed as Kitri on the two nights I attended (Kitri being the lead female role).

Sanmarie was a delight to watch with her strong technique, and she brought a touch of endearing sweetness to her character. In contrast, Shannon delivered a fantastic fieriness with her version of a sassy and flirty Kitri.

One for the men

Brooklyn Mack from The Washington Ballet performed Basilio as a guest artist.
Photo courtesy of South African Mzansi Ballet

As for the lead male role of Basilio, Brooklyn Mack (all the way from The Washington Ballet) partnered Sanmarie with dazzling strength and control, flashing a cheeky “yeah I got this” kind of grin after effortlessly completing a one-arm lift. And Michael Revie sure knows how to serve up some enormous jumps a la virtuoso!

Talking of jumps, the SA Mzansi Ballet took grand allegro and made it mucho grande, which is probably very bad grammar in Spanish, but you get the idea right? I mean big, really beeeg. And high, something that Luis de Castro knows all about.

Ay Caramba, that boy has jaw-dropping elevation! And I mean no disrespect by ‘boy’, but that was his character – ‘Creado’ the mischievous street boy – although he may as well have been the Pied Piper the way the audience followed him across the stage.

But while Luis grabs your attention with his too-many-to-count turns and jumps, others magnetised me with their perfectly polished poise. Never mind pirouettes, Australian Aaron Smyth had me just with his walk. He danced Espada (the macho lead toreador) with tremendous stage presence and what seemed to be an impeccable sense of timing.

For that matter the other Espada, Jonathan Rodrigues, had a similar quality to his dancing and I would’ve loved to see him dance as Basilio too.

Fumbles, falls and foibles?

Well yes, we saw some fumbles and a mis-step or three. Also, while the music for Don Quixote is lovely and lively, the actual recording seemed to be clipped unnaturally short at the ends. This lack of a smooth fade-out occasionally jolted us into a what-now? kind of awkward silence.

Ah, but then Aaron would confidently walk across the stage and suddenly all was well again in Sunny Spain. Any moments of unease were swiftly soothed by the charm of the cast in their blaze of bright and bold costumes.

Overall, the entire performance was a delicious feast for the senses, brimming with humour and brilliance.

And did I mention the beeeg jumps?

Encore

For the curious, here’s a clip of Aaron performing a variation from Don Quixote during the finals of the Prix de Lausanne competition back in 2010. Now you’ll see what I mean about that walk…