Veronika Part and Roberto Bolle in ABT's Swan Lake

(Curtain call for American Ballet Theatre's Swan Lake, with Part and Bolle, center. My photo.)

Fri, June 26 - For all of its shortcomings, American Ballet Theatre's production of Swan Lake nevertheless provides an efficient, attractive-looking Swan Lake that manages to hit all of the major "Swan Lake" moments. And, perhaps more importantly, it provides a vehicle for the company's bevy of star dancers. Tonight, the stars were Russian-born Veronika Part, an import from the Mariinsky Ballet who has recently been promoted to the rank of principal, and Italian star Roberto Bolle, a guest from Teatro alla Scala in Milan.

With these two on stage, it was a night of beautiful people. Part, in a tutu, has a voluptuous hourglass figure and her gorgeous arched feet that move like silk, and Bolle has tall and runway-model handsome looks and authoritatively graceful movement - quite a pair to watch. They are ideally suited to each other in height and temperament, and even more, they shared a remarkable chemistry in this their first performances together. In the Black Swan Pas de Deux, heat radiated from the stage.I n Odette and Siegfried's reconciliation scene that followed, their relationship was touching, filled with simultaneous sorrow and urgency.

Bolle was particularly good tonight. His every stage moment was focused and dramatically present; his acting and mime were appropriately large and theatrical, but seemed unforced and completely natural. I loved the way he really looked into Odette's eyes and reacted to her in every moment. When Odette told him that she was the queen of the swans, his eyes grew large and he meant it when he bowed down in respect to her. Then there was his dancing: it was powerful and athletic, yet totally graceful and controlled. It looks surprising particularly because of his height; you almost don't expect that sort of elegance from a guy with such muscular legs. But there he was, a model of princely nobility and grace. And more – he's a fantastic partner, always supporting and deferring to his ballerina, knowing that in many ways, Swan Lake is about showing off the woman in the white tutu.

With Part as the woman in the white tutu, there was plenty to show off. In the right roles, Part can be a very compelling dancer, and she is at her strongest in Swan Lake. The creamy, liquid quality to her dancing is particularly suited to the role, and her Russian background gives her a kind of easy access to role's grandly stated moments. She was particularly good tonight in the Black Swan Pas de Deux, where she played up the glamour and was flawless in the sparkling, technically tricky steps, and in the final lakeside scene, where she and Bolle played off each other to convey the scene's tragic beauty. The more famous Act 2 lakeside scenes, including the White Swan pas de deux and Odette's variation, were good as well, though in Act 2 she started off a bit stiff, some of her movements slightly jerky. She warmed into the White Swan pas de deux, though, and the variation was very good.

More curtain call images: (1) Part and Bolle on stage; (2) Bolle in front of the Met's curtain;
(3) the continued standing ovation.

The surrounding production has all of the charms and flaws (mostly flaws) that I noticed last time I saw it (in Los Angeles, last year): act one, in the prince's court, and the act three, with its national dances, are a total bore with uninteresting choreography and clunky narrative. The sets are bright and colorful, providing an attractive frame to the proceedings. This time I sat in the orchestra and did not have to see at the overgrown-moss green floor. Thankfully iconic Ivanov choreography in the Act 2 lakeside scene, and the romping Petipa Black Swan Pas de Deux remain mostly intact, along with the delightful Pas de Trois in Act 1.

Tonight, the pas de trois was danced with verve and brio by Stella Abrera, Blaine Hoven and Maria Ricetto. Abrera was particularly bouncy in her variation and in the coda, Hoven was fantastic (and thud-free) in the very athletic male solo, and Ricetto was charming and solid in the second female variation. Genadi Saveliev danced the ballroom part of the dual Von Rothbart role, making a convincingly seductive case for the scene's visiting pricesses. Maria Bystrova was a wonderfully regal and grand Queen. Though the corps lacks the effortless precision of the Russians I saw last weekend, tonight it nevertheless looked very good in the two lakeside scenes.