Six women are scheduled to dance the lead swan at some point during PNB’s 10-show run of Swan Lake. Each is going to give you a very different performance. Their five princes mix things up a bit, too.
PNB posts its casting, in case you want to do some research. Note that Louise Nadeau, who is retiring this season, is only scheduled to dance one show, so if you want to see her limpid, lyrical, beautiful dancing, tonight’s the night!
Two shows down; eight to go. So far, so good. Or, amazing. Here are Kaori Nakamura and Lucien Postlewaite, who danced opening night. (Photos © Angela Sterling.)
I usually think of Nakamura as the fast, technical dancer
who forges her connection with the audience mostly through radiating her own sheer delight in moving, so it was fun to see her shine in the slow white-swan sections. Every single movement was stretched to the utmost: gorgeous! Her strength and precision are highlighted in these nearly slow-motion bits.
Postlewaite took princely care of her, showing her off superbly. They are well matched in many ways: he has a similarly clean technique, which we saw right off the bat with his first series of jumps. His exceptional acting skills added some fun and a little depth to the court scenes.
Of course, both did beautifully in the Act III bravura bits.
