White Rock Theatre Hastings, 24 April

Ballet designers and choreographers love to include balls and grand occasions to allow the dancers to display their expertise. Swan Lake is no exception opening with a series of varied dance styles, with the heroine Odette the leader of the swans not appearing until Act 2 (in theatre parlance a  ‘nine o’clock spot’.) Very well worth waiting for she was, played by the delightful and diminutive Ryoko Yacyu.

With the familiar Tchaikovsky score, it was immediately obvious that the dancers are accustomed to working to electronic music. Following the original choreography of Marius Petipa,  Prince Siegfried, Richard Hackett, meets Odette by the lake of the title, when she explains how she and her friends have been turned into swans by the wicked magician Rothbart, to be restored only by the love of a prince.

The dual role of Odette/Odile, traditionally the one in white tutu, the other in black, has brought fame to prima ballerinas from its premiere in 1877 with the revered Pierrina Legnani, in the 20th century Alicia Markova, Margot Fonteyn, and Darcy Bussell, and today Ryoko, who created an instant rapport with the audience.  In a company of all-round ability, outstanding was the youthful athleticism of Italian Francesco Bruni as the Jester, and the quartet Jodie McKnight, Akiho Sakuraba, Felicity Ramsay and Annie Cannon, who presented as a vital part of the story the frequently-parodied Dance of the Cygnets.

The happy ending was greeted by the audience with resounding applause. MW