The elegant and rhythmic performance of Swan Lake graced the stage of the Emerson Colonial Theatre with dancers of The Grand Kyiv Ballet, a Ukranian ballet company, for two nights only, on Feb. 19 and Feb. 20.
In the dimly lit room of the gold-encased theater, people of all ages patiently sat in anticipation for the start of the performance. Since September, The Grand Kyiv Ballet has performed around 90 performances of Swan Lake in cities all around the world. Part of the proceeds from the shows go towards restoring the Kyiv State Ballet College, Ukraine’s main ballet college.
The performance of Swan Lake is brought to life by principal dancers Anna Stoianova, playing Odette, and Daniel Kish, playing the prince, who have both been with the company since 2023. The story follows a prince who falls in love with the swan princess Odette after Odette is cursed by a sorcerer.
“I want to make a connection with the audience,” Viktor Tomashek, a dancer from The Grand Kyiv Ballet, told The Beacon in an interview. “I’ve started dancing since I was seven-years-old, and now I’m 35.”
Tomashek graduated in 2008 from the State Choreographic School in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital. “When we show history [in] ballet we show our technique and professionalism,” said Tomashek. “I hope in Boston I can show what I can do.”
The ballet is split up into four acts. The first act is set at the prince’s 21st birthday celebration where he receives a crossbow from his mother. At the celebration, dancers frolic on stage. The music is bright and cheerful, matching the dancers’ energetic jumps and spins.
The performance is full of lights and darks that signify themes of good versus evil, in its lighting choices and costumes of the white and black swans.
“I’ve always listened to the music of Swan Lake,” said Olivia Konzen, an audience member who recently moved to Boston from Wisconsin. “Seeing it live was amazing.”
Konzen said a goal of hers was to go see a ballet in Boston. “[The] dances were pretty incredible, [the] costumes [were] fun with the changes [and] the atmosphere of the entire theater,” Konzen said. “I would definitely go to another ballet.”
The simple set design, intricate choreography, and dazzling costumes that reflect the stage lights transport the audience into the performance. Each movement is carefully executed by the 35 dancers to Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s classical score.
“[It’s] really magical because you see they’re doing their own motions,” said Michelle Dang, a sophomore undergraduate student at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. “[It’s] cohesive and synchronized, combined with the movements.”
In the second act, which takes place by a lake in the forest where the prince meets Odette, the iconic flock of swans are played by dancers wearing simple white tutus and feathered hair pieces. Odette wears a similar outfit; however, her tutu is adorned with silver sparkles that shine with every movement.
“Odette’s face [had] all the emotion,” Dang said.
In this act, the famous “Dance of the Little Swans” is performed by four dancers who interlock their hands while dancing on pointe with quick, sharp movements of their feet.
The third act occurs in the ballroom where the prince is presented with potential brides; however, he cannot get his mind off of Odette. This is when the sorcerer curses his own daughter, Odile, to look like Odette to get the prince to fall in love with her as Odette watches from the window, heartbroken. Odile wears almost an identical costume as Odette, but in black with twinkling gold and red accents.
In the final act, Odette runs back to the lake in the forest to be with the swans. The prince chases after her and they hold each other until the sorcerer appears. A battle ensues between him and the prince. Eventually, the prince defeats the sorcerer allowing Odette and the prince to be together.
