Pacific Northwest Ballet’s “Swan Lake”
Originally published on social media on February 10th, 2024
Thank you Dad for what was truly such an incredible Christmas gift for Faith and I! Today’s performance of Swan Lake was utter magic! Every moment was breathtaking, and every element beautiful. Thank you @pacificnorthwestballet for putting on such an amazing performance.
Tchaikovsky sure writes the most gorgeous and romantic ballet music, and I’ve always wanted to hear it played live. The PNB orchestra is very talented. Speaking of talent, this is the third ballet I’ve seen @jameskirbyrogers dance and he is the most talented ballet dancer I’ve ever seen. He dances with such charm and charisma, as well as heart and love, all while doing some insanely complicated things. I couldn’t keep my eyes off him, he truly embodied a prince. @ellemacy was a stunning Odette, a true Swan Queen who was so lovely and graceful. You can just tell she was born to dance this role.
The ambiance of the whole production felt like being in a dream, one you would never want to wake up from. The PNB has a remarkable knack for set design. I don’t know how they did it, but they created a realistic sunset. An indoor sunset…it was something else.
This whole story, this whole production was something else. The story was so romantic that I almost got butterflies, until Rothbart went and messed things up and turned two people in love into star crossed lovers. Then the story turned tragic, and you could feel the heartbreak. I don’t believe I have ever shed a tear while watching a performance, but I did today. One single, but significant tear, so naturally when the time came, I joined the standing ovation.
One of the most hilarious things happened in the audience: when the ballet dancer who played Rothbart took his bow, the audience both clapped and booed…but not in a way that was disrespectful to the dancer or his talent. We all booed the way he broke up Prince Siegfried and Odette, but clapped for his good performance.
Today was both therapeutic and a treat. I think both my sister and I needed it. We all need the arts, and I hope you will all continue to do whatever you can do to support the arts and artists, and keep magic like this alive.