RB Swan Lake Reviews RB Reviews Cope reviews Acosta reviews Zelensky reviews

April 11 in Yokohama:
Sylvie Guillem, Jonathan Cope

April 16 in Tokyo:
Lorna Feijoo, Carlos Acosta

April 17 in Tokyo:
Darcey Bussell, Igor Zelensky

April 18 (matinee) in Tokyo:
Miyako Yoshida, Bruce Sansom

Sylvie Guillem's Odette was very calm and reserved when she met the prince for the first time. I was just puzzled at new Guillem's interpretation of Odette, but it is better than her previous Odette who was very ice-hearted. Guillem's Odette was very reserved and already knew her fate, so I felt as if she danced closer with the sorrowful fate than with Siegfried. I liked her Odette this time. Guillem was much more wonderful when she danced Odile, she never used flashing fascination to deceive the prince but used very fake kindness and smiles until he was totally bewitched. I found the interesting point in Act 3, Odile never left the stage until the prince danced his variation , it was just funny. Guillem's very clever construction of Odette/Odile character was very interesting and it made the story stylish.

Lorna Feijoo (pronunciation is like 'feihou') was guest artist from National Ballet of Cuba to dance with Carlos Acosta. She was quite new face for Japanese audience. Having exotic black hair and big black eyes, young ballerina from far Caribbean Islands danced quite unique style Odette. She bent her upper body very deeply to her forward, and her arms were stayed just over her head when she made Odette's famous pose. I was not sure but just thought it was Cuban style. Her Odile was just wonderful with very difficult and strong techniques everywhere, then her Odette in the last act was much more relaxed and natural. Acosta was just wonderful. Although he showed his outstanding dancing ability when he danced in several Gala performances before, he was real prince this time. His beautiful walking with generous presence, way of using his arms, and his elegant manner made him real prince. I think he will become a great dancer in a various repertoires in near future.

Darcey Bussell and Igor Zelensky made a supreme performance of Swan Lake during the tour. She was a very human princess rather than a bird figure. Zelensky's solid Kirov style made her brilliant Odette. Their duet in the second act was serene and pure. I just hoped this blessed moments would last forever. Bussell was fabulous when she danced grand pas de deux as Odile. She inserted some triple turns during 32 fouettes, it was so exciting moment. Zelensky's acting in the last act was eloquent to describe the tragic ending.

Miyako Yoshida and Bruce Sansom's performance was very artistic and elaboration. Yoshida's dance seemed to be made by pure white silk; smooth, warm and authentic. It was a joy to see her dance with the Royal Ballet in Japan . Their grand adagio was very tranquil and full of musicality. Just shame of the performance was Andrea Quinn's baton; as she did not look on the stage, she started music of the famous Odette's solo during Yoshida walking from the wing to the centre position. It was just nightmare.

Besides the leading couples....... I loved the Valse of the first act (choreographed by David Bintley) very much and took some balcony seats to enjoy the complete formation. Belinda Hatley and Yohei Sasaki in Pas de trois were very good. Four cygnets were always danced brilliantly with perfect fast footwork. Tutors (William Tuckett, Luke Heydon, and Peter Abegglen) were very attractive actors, and two girls who made fun of him were danced by Japanese ballet students, then they improved night by night. When I saw this production several times before, one third of swan corps de ballet (Act 2) were danced by Royal Ballet School students , however, all the swans were by members of the Royal Ballet during this tour.

Anyway the tour has been finished successfully, and I enjoyed every performance although I do not want to calculate how much I spent for the tickets. Maybe I cannot wait such a long time to see the Royal Ballet until next Japan tour.