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Julia Pascal
State Ballet of Georgia
Ends 26 July 2026
What can be done with the plot of Swan Lake? Should this 19th century classic be interpreted freshly for the 21st? That is the question suggested by the State Ballet of Georgia where the original choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov is restaged by Nina Ananiashvili and Alexey Fadeechev.
The story of maidens turning into birds is thought to have been sourced by a multiplicity of myths and legends from Leda and the Swan to Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid.
Prince Siegfried must marry to continue the royal line but this prince would rather be out with his mates, shooting and having fun than finding a fiancée. One reading (inspired by Tchaikovsky’s homosexuality) is that he is gay and marriage is an anathema. To distract himself from mandatory procreative duties, Siegfried goes out with the boys to shoot swans in the nearby lake. In the moonlight, he sees a White Swan, Odette, who reveals herself as a human female imprisoned in a swan’s body. She tells him she can be freed when a prince promises to marry her. He falls in love and returns to court.
Meanwhile Odile’s jailer, Baron von Rothbart, replaces Odette with one of his daughters, at the engagement party. Seduced by Odile, dressed as a Black Swan, Siegfried chooses her as wife. Within the fairy tale, is a simple binary logic: pure white Odette versus erotic black Odile. Virgin or Whore/Mary or Jezebel.
In this adaptation, is a new prologue showing young girls being transformed into swans. This breaks tradition by offering a kind of logical human backstory to the fairytale. Having set this up, the director must make a choice about the end. Historically, there have been three options. In the classical version, Odette dies with a bereft Siegfried left broken by his loss. A softer finale is when the two lovers ascend to heaven on a boat- journey to the skies. The third version, the Stalinist happy end, has von Rothbart die and the lovers unite in triumph. A simple Christian addendum to a pre-Christian scenario. Choosing number three, Ananiashvili and Fadeechev have chosen the naff over any complex new interpretation.
What started as a fresh vision of von Rothbart as a half-bird, half-man who pimps his daughter as future royal bride, and sits in equal power with the Queen Mother, ends in pantomime. In the final dramatic moments of the ballet, Siegfried pulls off von Rothbart’s wing prostheses. This risible moment upends the establishment of von Rothbart as a creature able to morph between human and animal. He now becomes a cardboard character. Pathos becomes bathos. A struggle between two powerful male dancers–which invites a new choreography – would have avoided this anticlimax.
What about the other areas of the production. This is a breathtakingly exciting design where the costumes and decor clearly place us in Georgia. The sense of place, history and power makes the work feel relevant through the beauty of David Monavardisashvili’s hand-painted decor and Cyrille Gassiline’s classical-contemporary costumes. I have never seen the presence of the Queen Mother so enhanced by her outfit. Ina Azmaiparashuli realised a role; normally portrayed as a dowager; as a Hollywood icon.
The Company’s skill is faultless: years of rigorous training are apparent under Ananiashvili’s artistic leadership. Nino Samadashvili as Odette/Odile is technically thrilling and Oleg Ligai’s Siegfried is a dynamic prince with extraordinary elevation. Georgian conductor Levan Jagaev is at one with the dancers and creates a fusion between them and the excellent musicians of The Royal Ballet Sinfonia. It’s a provocative production which encourages thinking about how to stage the binary in a non-binary climate. If only the daring impulse to expand the vision, had gone even further.
Swan Lake
Julia Pascal
State Ballet of Georgia
Ends 26 July 2026
What can be done with the plot of Swan Lake? Should this 19th century classic be interpreted freshly for the 21st? That is the question suggested by the State Ballet of Georgia where the original choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov is restaged by Nina Ananiashvili and Alexey Fadeechev.
The story of maidens turning into birds is thought to have been sourced by a multiplicity of myths and legends from Leda and the Swan to Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid.
Prince Siegfried must marry to continue the royal line but this prince would rather be out with his mates, shooting and having fun than finding a fiancée. One reading (inspired by Tchaikovsky’s homosexuality) is that he is gay and marriage is an anathema. To distract himself from mandatory procreative duties, Siegfried goes out with the boys to shoot swans in the nearby lake. In the moonlight, he sees a White Swan, Odette, who reveals herself as a human female imprisoned in a swan’s body. She tells him she can be freed when a prince promises to marry her. He falls in love and returns to court.
Meanwhile Odile’s jailer, Baron von Rothbart, replaces Odette with one of his daughters, at the engagement party. Seduced by Odile, dressed as a Black Swan, Siegfried chooses her as wife. Within the fairy tale, is a simple binary logic: pure white Odette versus erotic black Odile. Virgin or Whore/Mary or Jezebel.
In this adaptation, is a new prologue showing young girls being transformed into swans. This breaks tradition by offering a kind of logical human backstory to the fairytale. Having set this up, the director must make a choice about the end. Historically, there have been three options. In the classical version, Odette dies with a bereft Siegfried left broken by his loss. A softer finale is when the two lovers ascend to heaven on a boat- journey to the skies. The third version, the Stalinist happy end, has von Rothbart die and the lovers unite in triumph. A simple Christian addendum to a pre-Christian scenario. Choosing number three, Ananiashvili and Fadeechev have chosen the naff over any complex new interpretation.
What started as a fresh vision of von Rothbart as a half-bird, half-man who pimps his daughter as future royal bride, and sits in equal power with the Queen Mother, ends in pantomime. In the final dramatic moments of the ballet, Siegfried pulls off von Rothbart’s wing prostheses. This risible moment upends the establishment of von Rothbart as a creature able to morph between human and animal. He now becomes a cardboard character. Pathos becomes bathos. A struggle between two powerful male dancers–which invites a new choreography – would have avoided this anticlimax.
What about the other areas of the production. This is a breathtakingly exciting design where the costumes and decor clearly place us in Georgia. The sense of place, history and power makes the work feel relevant through the beauty of David Monavardisashvili’s hand-painted decor and Cyrille Gassiline’s classical-contemporary costumes. I have never seen the presence of the Queen Mother so enhanced by her outfit. Ina Azmaiparashuli realised a role; normally portrayed as a dowager; as a Hollywood icon.
The Company’s skill is faultless: years of rigorous training are apparent under Ananiashvili’s artistic leadership. Nino Samadashvili as Odette/Odile is technically thrilling and Oleg Ligai’s Siegfried is a dynamic prince with extraordinary elevation. Georgian conductor Levan Jagaev is at one with the dancers and creates a fusion between them and the excellent musicians of The Royal Ballet Sinfonia. It’s a provocative production which encourages thinking about how to stage the binary in a non-binary climate. If only the daring impulse to expand the vision, had gone even further.
Julia Pascal © 2026.
By Julia Pascal • added recently on London Grip, ballet, dance, performance, theatre • Tags: ballet, dance, Julia Pascal, performance, theatre