Swan Lake Ballet
Russian Ballet Company
Hermitage Theatre
St. Petersburg, Russia

by Choy Ken Wei

I hardly know a thing about ballet, so how did I manage to get myself into writing a review for one of the immortal ballets of all time, Swan Lake, and what more by the Russian Ballet Company from the Hermitage Theatre in St.Petersburg? Maybe it was my curiosity to experiment with writing about something new. Maybe it was the vodka I’d been drinking. More likely however, it was the beautifully executed art of ballet that compelled me to want to share this experience.


The graceful Natalia Potekhina effortlessly performed as the beautiful Odette, queen of the swan maidens. Through all three acts, she danced her way into the hearts of both the handsome young Prince Siegfried, and all of the audience.


The story revolved around Prince Siegfried’s love for the most beautiful of the swan maidens, Odette, who, like many other young maidens, were transformed into swans by an evil magician, Rothbart.  Able to take human form only at night, Prince Siegfried came across them by chance at a lake in the depths of the forest while hunting, and was totally taken by Odette’s beauty.   What then followed was a classic tale of deception and treachery, as the Rothbart the magician tricked Siegfried, causing him to declare his love for Rothbart’s daughter, Odille (also played by Natalia Potkhina) instead. 


The sets for the different scenes were a feast for the eyes, starting with the palace of Prince Siegfried with majestic columns, deep coloured curtains and richly decked tables filled with silver and gold.  The scene by the lake was no less well done, with a set decorated with woodlands surrounding a lake, bathed in pale shades of moonlight.


It was against these marvellous backdrops that Natalia Potekhina excelled herself as the ballerina. She performed her role with passion, her facial expressions were fully in tune with the emotions in the story. Above all,  her movements were fluid, and when she leapt up for the entrechat, time seemed to stop as she effortlessly crossed her feet mid-air in rapid succession. For a rather untrained eye, I did not manage to count, but I’d bet my next Russian Bliny that it must have been entrechat dix (10).  And when she turned and spun, her legs moving quickly and gracefully in her 32 continuous fouettés, there was a moment of awed hush followed by a resounding applause after she completed the turns at the spot she where started them.