When Siegfried comes in to pair her, he approaches her with a cautious touch. She is held in a V-shape position with her hands stretched above her head after the turn. It’s all about trust in this relationship that they’re creating, and it’s fragile.
Throughout, the dancing is given a special poetic prowess and energy by gorgeous pantomime that is basic yet evident. Odette isn’t ethereal when she crosses her wrists in front of her body, which signifies death. There is no “grey area” in this situation. When someone passes away, that person’s life is over.
During the ballroom scene, Siegfried meets Odile, Von Rothbart’s cunning daughter, and Odette immediately loses faith in him.
Odile’s dark featherless outfit is splashed in colours of green and purple like an iridescent fish dipped in glitter by Ratmansky in this performance.
There was something a touch shabby about this. After being overwhelmed by her resemblance to Odette, Siegfried begs her to marry him, which is obviously a bad idea.
Carranza was competent as Odette, albeit not particularly memorable as Odile. Her pas de deux with Cerdeiro featured an arabesque position with her leg extended as he knelt before her, which was mesmerising to see develop.
She suddenly dropped her hands on his knee and let go of his hands. It was so strange, but it made sense at the same time. Siegfried is pinned to the ground by Odile’s savagery.
However, Ratmansky’s “Swan Lake” is powerful because of the groups he employs. Up until the maypole is raised and layers of dancers swirl around it to create a human carousel in Act 1’s peasant waltz, the peasant waltz is the most uplifting thing you’ve ever seen in the ballet.
Pictures they create are a joy to look at because of how lighthearted they are. This probably has something to do with how friendly and welcoming the dancers of the Miami City Ballet are. Dancing Tchaikovsky’s ballets is like soaring, according to George Balanchine. They fly.
