Sometimes being a subscriber has serious benefits. Like having my usual seats for The Washington Ballet's production of Swan Lake, starring ABT's Misty Copeland and TWB's Brooklyn Mack. Usual seats meaning centered in the lower orchestra section, about 6 rows back from the pit. Only two of the five performances featured this pairing, and both sold out quickly. I'd heard that some tickets were released for sale earlier this week for $300 a seat. Wow.
And "wow!" is the proper description of these two performers. The dancing was stunning and the acting heartbreaking (Swan Lake is a tragedy, after all). Both are at once athletic and graceful, never allowing the technical overshadow the storyline. Even when taking bows after crowd-pleasing segments, they remained in character: Misty's Odette being clearly a bit shy when acknowledging applause while Odile eagerly ate it up and wanted more.
Kudos must be given to the staging and choreography. This is a re-creation of the pre-Soviet version. I was most impressed with this version and I hope it becomes more popular.
I've also been told this is the first time two black dancers have performed Odette/Odile and Siegfried opposite each other. Okay, I guess that's important in some way, and I guess that might have been part of the reason these shows sold out. For myself, I'm just thrilled that I got to see two dancers of stellar capabilities perform together.
And "wow!" is the proper description of these two performers. The dancing was stunning and the acting heartbreaking (Swan Lake is a tragedy, after all). Both are at once athletic and graceful, never allowing the technical overshadow the storyline. Even when taking bows after crowd-pleasing segments, they remained in character: Misty's Odette being clearly a bit shy when acknowledging applause while Odile eagerly ate it up and wanted more.
Kudos must be given to the staging and choreography. This is a re-creation of the pre-Soviet version. I was most impressed with this version and I hope it becomes more popular.
I've also been told this is the first time two black dancers have performed Odette/Odile and Siegfried opposite each other. Okay, I guess that's important in some way, and I guess that might have been part of the reason these shows sold out. For myself, I'm just thrilled that I got to see two dancers of stellar capabilities perform together.
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