JADAR

★★★☆☆

Swan Lake’s impact on the world of ballet is undeniable, and yet until last year, it’s a show I’d never experienced before. I’ve heard the incredible score by Pyotr Tchaikovsky countless times, I knew a little about the story, and had only seen some animated version of the story as a child. Then came Matthew Bourne’s incredible adaptation (which I had the pleasure of catching last November), replacing the traditionally female swans with muscular, acrobatic and enchantingly supple male performers and recontextualising the show with deep, enrapturing storylines. However, Mergaliyev classical ballet’s Swan Lake offers a peek into the original tale with all the deceit, passion, longing, and supernatural forces one could hope for in a traditional ballet, yet it fails to make a splash amongst its bigger competitors.

For anyone concerned about its accessibility, I found the show surprisingly easy to understand without prior knowledge of Swan Lake, unlike English National Ballet’s Giselle for instance. The story follows Prince Siegfried (Cristo Vivancos Prunes) as he comes of age and is expected to find a wife. His adventures lead him away from the court to a mystical lake filled with cursed young maidens, with their queen, Odette (Nilay Tahiroglu), stealing his heart despite her terrible predicament, but will the evil Rothbart’s (Marek Bobosik) trickery destroy their chances of a happily ever after?

This rendition returns to the classic female swan-maidens with their graceful fluttering as Odette duets with her lover- an equally interesting, although less dynamic and meticulously perfected performance than Bourne’s swan-of-a kind production. It was hard not to notice moments where dancers were either out of sync with the music or with each other, lacking that perfect sense of symmetry and perfection that ballet thrives upon. While there were also some nice acrobatic male performances, I was left craving more of this dynamicism from Siegfried who, while performed well, sometimes felt a little passive in his own story.

The show’s lower budget does become a bit of a burden, slightly impacting the quality of some of the costumes with some of the swooshing dresses ruining the clean lines and spins in the first scene’s celebration numbers. Meanwhile, other outfits reminded me of the type of materials you’d see in Halloween costumes as a kid, although admittedly more jewel-encrusted and lacy.

I particularly disliked Rothbart’s design as the black spandex with strange, coloured jewels, the feathery headdress and the strange swirling butterfly-esque under-arm cape ultimately made the character less intimidating and frankly a little pantomimey. This was especially heightened by his entrance with an ungodly amount of smoke that obscured his initial dancing and had the audience in coughing fits, and his confusingly sudden death.

However, the swan costumes are the exception with their fabulous bobbing tutus, pattering pointes, uncoiling feathers, gorgeously unfurling feather crowns, and the more lavish details in Odette’s lavish jewel and feather-coated design.

The show’s saving grace is Nilay Tahiroglu as Odette, whose breathtaking attention to detail, passionate acting and effortless prowess continuously enchanted the audience. The artistic shapes and subtly movements that she created with her body in reflecting the mannerisms and serenity of a swan were breathtakingly vivid and her gentile and slightly melancholic facial expressions mirror the tragedy of her curse so perfectly.

Her performance as Odile is equally as captivating with that sinister smile as she allures the prince into her trap. She has a delicate and dainty aura yet is able to perform the most astonishing spins, jumps and poses with ease while maintaining them swan-like frames and physicality which I wish persisted in more of the dances. The cheerful and bouncy pas de quarte to the famous ‘Danse des Petits Cygnes’ was particularly engaging with the interlocked hands and frolicking legs but still a little heavy footed and out of time.

The set was also a little sparse but generally effective with its forest borders and interchangeable painted backdrops which included the castle, an abandoned castle near swan lake, and an oddly contrasting quilt with simple embroidered stained glass window designs. Yet, I will admit that I particularly enjoyed the transparent mesh embroidered with swans, especially as it rose to reveal the swan dancers behind it in Act 3.

The majority of set changes happened between intervals but the most awkward transitions occurred behind the curtain with awkward pauses in the music and audience chatter before the new set was revealed. It felt a little disjunct, especially when added to the multitude of musical pauses between songs as performers got into position, and some lacklustre choreography moments where the cast basically tiptoed around each other.

The show also doesn’t avoid my one pet peeve in traditional ballet… There’s just too much swanning around! Various sequences last a touch too long for my liking, halting the natural progress of the story to showcase more ballet sequences – some of which are entertaining and successful while others feel like a stalling tactic.

Ultimately, the show won’t leave you with goose-bumps, with a number of flaws and a lack of clear creative direction preventing the show from reaching its full potential. However, it does provide the audience with a fun introduction to the world of Swan Lake, with some nice visual elements and a show-stealing performance from Nilay Tahiroglu, who has to be one of the best leading ladies I’ve seen in a ballet so far. It just needs a little more fine tuning and dynamism or a unique selling-point to make it stand out among its competition.

Swan Lake runs at Opera House Manchester until January 19. The other Mergaliyev Classical Ballet production, The Nutcracker, runs there until January 18.