Review: Chloe Misseldine in Swan Lake with the State Ballet of Georgia

It’s amazing how you can be at the theatre and have two completely different experiences. This was the case last night when I watched the State Ballet of Georgia in Swan Lake.

It’s a new production that premiered this month in Tbilisi, and it’s a dud, I’m afraid. The company’s artistic director, Nina Ananiashvili and Alexey Fadeechev are credited as the restagers, and I don’t believe they’ve done anything to add to Swan Lake‘s rich history.

The one good decision is to only have one interval between Act 2 and 3; otherwise, it feels like a DVD situation, as in you want to fast-forward all the stuff you don’t really want to watch.

Act 1 and 3 both feel old-fashioned and woody. Swan Lake is, of course, a period work… but it can be performed with a freshness; this sadly wasn’t the case.

Throughout, I found the choreography generic and unmusical. Unmusical to Tchaikovsky? The mind boggles! And this had nothing to do with the music, as the Royal Ballet Sinfonia under Levan Jagaev sounded stupendous in the Coliseum.

I’ve never seen so many arabesques and balancés, and arabesques looking out front rather than using the eyeline to project the step’s movement intention. Bizarre. And I won’t even discuss the mime, mise-en-scène, costumes and wigs; it’s for the best.

The dancing can’t be described as bad, but it definitely isn’t good either. Things are well rehearsed but lack quality; literally any. Almost everything feels devoid of personality and texture. Personally, I don’t hold the dancers exclusively responsible – these concepts need to be built into the choreographic choices and then rehearsed so by the coaches. There’s a larger lesson here: don’t rest on your laurels.

Masaaki Goto performing Benno had many fine attributes. He didn’t have interesting choreography, but his dancing was big, secure and with a beautiful jump. 

To the real deal. I came to this performance specifically because Chloe Misseldine was performing, and boy was it the right decision. Misseldine is a principal with American Ballet Theatre and an exquisite dancer. At 24, she has everything at her fingertips: physique, technique, strength and expression, and she’s got them all working at 110% all the time!

Her Odette is a complex watch. In Act 2, she doesn’t really use facial expression (in an obvious way) to tell the story; it’s all coming through her movement. This approach doesn’t lack anything per se, as her dancing is expansive and dramatic, but after seeing her Act 3 and 4, one wonders if 2 can afford to keep developing in ways. I feel there’s another level of characterisation for Misseldine to find in her already consummate performance.

I absolutely loved her Odile. The way she uses her eyes is intoxicating. Her take feels similar to that of Darren Aronofsky‘s Black Swan. Somewhere between an aloof princess and a demonic animal. Wow. I also much prefer the solo they do here. It’s the version that starts with hops in arabesque before fouetté; some would refer to it as the ‘Bolshoi’ offering. It suits Misseldine to a tee as she can show off all her attributes: easy turns, qualitative extension, effortless ballon and covering space.

By Act 4 we’re all spellbound by Misseldine, and I also found her Odette more communicative here, which I appreciated. This production uses the ‘happy’ ending which I don’t buy into, but hey – it was Misseldine’s night, and that’s A-okay.

Swan Lake is really about the Swans, or rather it should be, but the situation was the same here; well-rehearsed, lifeless work. The three Big Swans (in black) offered something slightly different – alive, physical dancing – but their choreography was such a hot mess it all went south quite quickly, not for the want of trying.

The State Ballet of Georgia is very welcome in London, but this production doesn’t necessarily confirm why they’re coming. We have Swan Lake here… and I’d say it’s of a much better quality even if current productions aren’t ones for the books. Whenever I see a disappointing Lac, I pine for the old Royal Ballet’s Dowell/Sonnabend – but that’s my baggage. When the State Ballet of Georgia returns to London, I hope it’s with a programme of value, full of dancing that matters.