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For those who haven’t yet seen this production, it is Deane’s adaptation for traditional theatres of his famous “in-the-round” production which London audiences will get to see again at the Royal Albert Hall this June. If that makes you shrug your shoulders in apathy, it really shouldn’t: this is a far superior version, and well worth seeing if you can catch it in Manchester or Liverpool over the next couple of weeks. I said at its premiere that I thought it was the best thing Deane had done, and I will now go further: having had the chance to re-view Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Peter Wright version since then, I think ENB’s is even better, just what a good Swan Lake should be – very clean and clear, devoid of unnecessary clutter and superfluous characters. Not only that, but it also benefits from choreography by Frederick Ashton in the first act and the Neapolitan Dance in Act III. (I assume, unless Matz Skoog has something up his sleeve for the Tour de Force programme, that this will be the only Ashton ENB will be dancing in his centenary year. A shame they abandoned his Romeo & Juliet in favour of the Nureyev one).

The ballet begins, like the Bourmeister version, with a prologue showing Odette being captured by the evil magician, Rothbart, and turned into a swan (technical note: owing to the very high but close viewing angle of the upper circle of the Hippodrome, this is not as magical as it should be!). The act proper then opens on the Palace courtyard (handsome designs and costumes – rusts and earths for the peasants, blues and greens for the courtiers – by Peter Farmer throughout) where Prince Siegfried is celebrating his birthday. It is then pretty much a standard run-through of the Act I music except for the interpolation of the Ashton pas de quatre, well-danced by Simone Clarke, Fernanda Oliveira, Yat-Sen Chang and Yosvani Ramos, instead of the more common pas de trois. The celebrations end with an ebullient “Danse des coupes” in which the lead couple really deserve a mention on the cast sheet, and then Siegfried is left alone with his tutor. He dances a melancholic Nureyev-type solo expressing his feelings at his mother’s demands that he marry, but later cheers up when the Tutor spots a flight of swans and suggests trying out his new present, a crossbow. Wikström's enthusiasm for this is so great that he almost drags the Tutor offstage with him before the Tutor recovers and points out that he's too old and unfit for such activity! I usually find that Act I drags a little, and start getting twitchy, but there was no question of that here, and despite the best efforts of certain members of the audience I was really drawn in to the action.

Unfortunately, the necessity of bringing the production in at under 3 hours meant that there was merely a long pause between Acts I and II rather than an interval: long enough for the audience to get completely distracted and start chatting. Even starting off the Act II Scene music rather more loudly than usual didn't make much difference to the noise level, although unlike in Southampton the previous week at least there was little chat continuing after the actual dancing had recommenced. Odette runs in in a line of swans (the corps appeared to be a couple short - illness?), and Siegfried enters, thankfully alone, rather than encumbered by companions, drunk or otherwise, and prepares to shoot until he realises that these are not swans but maidens. Odette relates to him the tale of her enchantment, and then the dancing begins, the whole act pretty much true to the Ivanov choreography. Whether or not they were a scratch pairing (although they have certainly danced together in other productions before), there was no indication of this in their dancing, although Wikström’s partnering might have been a little more attentive even than usual. He and Klimentova were both very expressive, in both face – not infrequently clearly visible from the uppermost reaches of the theatre - and body, and managed to bring out the emotional heart of the work in such a way that I was actually quite moved, which is less common than it might seem with Swan Lake. There was one particular moment, towards the end of the act, where Siegfried was desperately straining seemingly with every sinew to try and restrain Odette as Rothbart drew her inexorably back towards him, which was particularly eloquent.

Act III opens in a palatial hall, very grand-looking, and the Queen and Siegfried enter, along with the princesses from among whom he is expected to choose a bride, and the national dancers. I do find it rather stretches belief that Joanna Maley, one of the dancers in the company, can possibly be Wikström’s mother (this isn’t “Iolanthe”, after all!), and do prefer to see the older Jane Haworth in the role. There was a great Neopolitan Dance from Chang and Clarke, which was cheered to the rafters (who says novice audiences can’t appreciate good choreography and dancing?), the other national dances looked handsome in their beautiful costumes, and finally came the Black Swan pas de deux, where the interrelationship between Siegfried, Odile and Rothbart was clearly delineated (there were nice, convincing added touches here and throughout the ballet by both Wikström and Klimentova which took the whole performance up a notch or two), Odile frequently turning to the latter for instructions on how best to draw the prince into her web, although I felt that both dancers were pushing a little too far towards the end. My only real quibble would be Wikström’s arabesque, something I’ve noticed at various times before: he demonstrated an extremely satisfactory 90° arabesque on several occasions, and I cannot see any need to extend it any higher by leaning the torso slightly forward. The act ended on a suitably dramatic note, with Odile and Rothbart triumphing and Siegfried, thrown to the floor, in despair before running out after them.

The final act begins with the swans “nested” on the floor and then rising onto pointe out of the mist, a really effective tableau. Odette runs in and tells them of her despair at how Siegfried has been forsworn, and he later enters and falls to his knees in front of her, every inch of his body reflecting his contrition and begging her forgiveness, which she immediately grants him. But he has, albeit unwittingly, betrayed his vow to her, and she must remain a swan for the rest of her life. There is an added, very moving, pas de deux for Odette and Siegfried which helps to flesh out the act, and a confrontation with Rothbart, powerfully portrayed by Gary Avis, but this alone cannot break the spell, and Odette announces her intention to kill herself. Despite Siegfried’s desperate attempts to prevent her, she throws herself into the lake, followed shortly after by a despairing prince. Shorn of the “fake” happy ending forced on the original arena production by the lack of a lake to drown in, the spell is broken by the lovers’ decision to die together, and as Rothbart expires on his rocky perch the swan maidens hail Siegfried and Odette, united beyond death.

All together, a highly satisfying production and performance, and received with great acclaim by the audience, against all the odds.