 |
   |
Royal BalletNovember 2000 London, Covent Garden by Anne Marriott |
|||||||
|
On Wednesday 22 November 2000 Zenaida Yanowsky made her debut as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake except it wasn'tt really a debut, of course, because she had stood in for a food-poisoned Darcey Bussell in Acts III and IV the previous evening. Maybe it was this unexpected performance which did the trick: suffice it to say on her debut proper she was simply stunning, and the audience enjoyed every minute of it. A very tall girl for a classical dancer, she makes a wonderfully elegant and stately swan a real Swan Queen. Perhaps her upper body could have been a bit more yielding during the first pas de deux and weve all seen higher extensions and greater spread of leg in grand jetes, but for the subtler delights of the lingering, pulsating unfurling of a willowy limb, Zenaida is unbeatable. Such lovely Swan arms too. And how nice to see some of the old steps which seem to be forgotten lately brought back and given full value. As for the Black Act well, what can I say? To single out only the most famous of the steps, she breezed her way through the 32 fouettes as if they had been made especially for her throwing in doubles and the odd triple for good measure. And how we all cheered! It is hard to say if she were a better Odette or Odile since she seemed to inhabit both roles with equal aplomb - her grief as Odette and her imperiousness as Odile were both quite breathtakingly realistic. With William Tuckett as Von Rothbart there was an extra frisson in the air as well for once there was a real struggle between hero and villain. He got a real pantomime boo at curtain call as well. Zenaida was fortunate to have as partner Jonathan Cope at his best. He was dancing really well and was an attentive partner strong too, to support a long-limbed girl in those fearful overhead lifts for such heart-stoppingly sustained moments but more than that he seemed really to feel the role in a way he usually only displays when partnering Sylvie Guillem. He was really in love, really distraught when he saw how he had been duped and so convincingly remorseful when his Swan Queen reproaches him in the final Act that it brought the proverbial lump to the throat. Fired up was the comment about Copes performance from an enthusiastic regular and I think that sums it up quite neatly.
It was a pleasure to be present when a familiar
classic is brought so vividly to life. I have only
two questions: 1. when will Zenaida get another go?
Surely one performance is a stingy allocation for a
dancer who has performed so wonderfully in so many
different lesser roles and 2. when is she going to be
made a Principal?
|
||||||||
|
 |
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
