Swan Lake, West Australian Ballet ·  
His Majesty’s Theatre, 19 November 2022 ·  

Back in 1957, the West Australian Ballet Company (as it was then called) presented a work entitled Brolga, about an Aboriginal character. 

In commissioning and directing a work that incorporates a traditional story of this land, the current artistic director of West Australian Ballet, Aurélien Scannella, might be seen to be continuing a tradition that dates back to the company’s earliest years. 

Or not. After all, that early production had no Aboriginal artists on its creative team. 

In contrast, this 2022 work had its genesis in a 2018 meeting between Scannella and Ballardong Whadjuk Noongar artist, cultural ambassador, educator and advisor Barry McGuire, who is credited in its program as Noongar artist, leader and guide.  

Their collaboration sees one of the great European classics – Swan Lake – transplanted from pre-industrial Germany to 19^th century Fremantle, with the Noongar story of how the Derbal Yerrigan swans acquired their black feathers woven in and around the narrative. 

The plot is detailed (make sure you read the synopsis first), cleverly adapting the original to a new setting in time and place and exchanging European mythology for Noongar storytelling. There’s also a framing story, of a friendship between Noongar Beeliar Elder Mowadji (Noongar man and guest dancer Kyle Morrison) and the doomed young settler, Sebastian (Matthew Lehmann), who tragically falls in love with the swan, Odette. 

The incorporation of the Noongar story, dance and song of the black swan is a highlight. The plaintive chanting of McGuire – as Boodja Wiirn, Spirit of the Land – provides a spine-tingling connection to ancient traditions, as does the grounded circularity of the movement by guest Noongar dance group Gya Ngoop Keeninyarra (Tjiirdm McGuire, Caleb McGuire, Jeeomarra McGuire, Wimiya Woodley and Tjahkai Dewar), led by Morrison. 

But this is where any significant choreographic shaking up of the original ends. Under Krzysztof Pastor (of Dracula fame), this Swan Lake is less of a re-choreographing and more of a re-shaping. Suffice to say, if you’re a Swan Lake aficionado you won’t be disappointed – the Cygnets, the famed Act II pas de deux – it’s all there, with Tchaikovsky’s score beautifully performed by West Australian Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Jessica Gethin. 

And despite being delightfully detailed with local touches – ranging from eucalyptus leaves to Government House – the sets, by UK designer Phil R. Daniels, have a distinctly European palette. Most noticeably, the day-time sky at Fremantle Harbour is too pale to be convincingly West Australian. 

Charles Cusick Smith’s costumes are anything but pale, however. With gorgeous splashes of crimson, delicately sparkling tutus play homage to our black swans. The many ribbons of fabric that comprise the coat of the Eagle (Scannella’s answer to the evil sorcerer Rothbart) fly like streamers, billowing powerfully from the dancer’s body.  

And boy, do the dancers do Cusick Smith’s glorious costumes justice.  

The lines of the corps de ballet – the back bone of the work – are impeccably drilled, from arabesque to the iconic and elegant swan-like port de bras. 

In the role of Odette, Dayana Hardy Acuna is sublime, at once delicate and stoic. Technically precise throughout the many demanding penches, promenades and pirouettes of the arduous Act II pas de deux, her performance nonetheless quivers with melancholy. 

She is beautifully partnered by Lehmann, who plays Sebastian with charm and charisma that morphs to desperation as the drama unfolds. Lehmann’s excellent partnering skills are again showcased when he dances with Carina Roberts, who plays the interloper Odile. Often cast in more innocent roles, Roberts seems to relish this meatier part, making clever use of eyelines to let us know where her loyalties really lie.

Playing the Elder Mowadji, Morrison radiates gentle wisdom and charisma. At the other end of the spectrum, Ludovico De Ubaldo, in the dual role of landowner William Greenwood and the Eagle, gives a chilling rendition of a character driven by power and greed. 

I admit I was anticipating something different from this Swan Lake; the moving final scene, in which we hear McGuire’s voice melded with the Tchaikovsky score, felt closest to my expectations. 

But while I would have preferred to see fewer European overtones, I came away feeling exhilarated to see the beginnings of a new era, not just for WAB but for dance more broadly.

Judging by the ecstatic audience response, I wasn’t the only one. 

Swan Lake continues at His Majesty’s Theatre until 11 December 2022. 

Pictured top: The multi-coloured Eagle replaces the evil sorcerer Rothbart in ‘Swan Lake’. Pictured is Matthew Lehmann in a different casting to the one viewed. Photo: Bradbury Photography.