ABT – Swan Lake – Ananiashvili, Corella, Gomes 6/27

There is no 12-Step Program for Swan Lake. You just wake up one morning to realize that all the white stuff is gone and there’s not a supplier in sight. It’s cold turkey. The shakes set in – mostly in the arms – up and down, up and down. You try to calm yourself, breathe deeply, and go into a zone where you relive the past week. The memories will have to suffice for another year.

Last night Nina Ananiashvili delivered a definitive Swan Lake, her last. Those memories will have to last our lifetimes – unless of course the film of the performance which took place from the first Grand Tier Box house-right is rightfully released to the public – preferably to public television. Fat chance.

Nina’s arms were unbelievably expressive last night – at times appearing boneless, at other times like a broken wing over her head, at still other times speaking mime with unmistakable clarity. When explaining to Siegfried how her mother’s tears filled the lake, Nina’s elbows came close to her waist and the arms and hands completely unfolded from her face down her front and one saw the tears fall from the tips of her fingers. So perfectly done. That face – a face that could not be more perfect for conveying Odette’s intense sorrow and Odile’s false-heartedness – how we will miss that face.

At the end of Act II when most Odettes bourree off stage with their backs to the audience, Nina faced front, dark eyes haunting and soulful, and floated off, arms rippling like waves – eerie and beautiful at the same time. Will we ever again see such undulating and expressive arms? Hopefully, Ms. Abrera and Ms. Boone are already working daily to sculpt the effect for their own futures.

Nina’s Odile was so well crafted and danced. One of the perennial highlights of her performance is when she eyes Siegfried and begins to mockingly imitate Odette with a diagonal of bourrees. Masterful. No one pulls that off like Nina. Last night, Nina’s technique defied her 45 years of age. Every arabesque, pirouette, and passe releve were beautiful. Her performance was a wonderful, lasting gift to us all.

Nina got considerable assistance from Angel Corella with his impeccable partnering and intense emoting. And Marcelo Gomes, with his wicked and seductive Von Rothbart, incited the devil in Nina’s Odile.  During the final pirouette of the Black Swan PdD, Gomes, cape flying, snuck up behind Nina.  When Haglund saw Gomes approaching from behind, he could not help but yelp, Oh no, what's he going to do now!?!  Gomes drove Nina through the pirouette and then picked her up and tossed her at Corella who caught her in a fish dive – sending the audience into a frenzy.  This move was, of course, later repeated by the three of them in front of the curtain amid a mass of flowers and a screaming audience.

Talk about flowers. Endless flowers. Such joy on everyone’s faces. Such love for Nina. Everyone presented flowers to her except for Ormsby Wilkins who presented her with his baton. Nina imbedded herself in the corps for a bow and tossed one of her many bouquets into the orchestra pit. So appreciative of everyone. Such class.

How we will miss her.

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