Dance Reviews : American Ballet Theatre ‘Swan Lake’ at the Shrine

The moon rose again over the American Ballet Theatre “Swan Lake” on Friday in the Shrine Auditorium--that same gigantic harvest moon that had been so conspicuously inconstant in its placement and even presence during the first performances of this new production in Costa Mesa last December.

Mikhail Baryshnikov seems now to have determined that the moon should rise behind (not inside) the sunken cathedral and reappear as an ominous vision in the ballroom scene. Unfortunately, he has not been as decisive in matters of directorial approach and choreographic style, so his staging ricochets between extremes.

Sometimes Baryshnikov adopts the classic choreography and antique storytelling mime of the Petipa-Ivanov “Swan Lake,” and here the designs by PierLuigi Samaritani provide a vaguely 15th-Century context. Elsewhere, however, the production aims for a contemporary statement: the lavender-hued “abstract” scenery for Act I, for example, or the byplay with masks in every act that crudely underlines the theme of deception.

There’s more--a clash in dancing style between 19th-Century Franco-Russian classicism and Soviet formalism of the 1930s. But you get the idea: If integrity of concept were important to “Swan Lake” audiences, the Shrine Auditorium would have been empty Friday. It was far from empty, however, and those present saw a performance distinguished chiefly by the freshness and surety of Christine Dunham as Odette/Odile. Ballet Theatre’s newest principal, Dunham dances as if the music is deep inside her, with an almost sensual pleasure in the possibilities for modulation. Her technique is equal to bravura challenges, but she is not yet able to project the character contrasts of this double role with much force. Still, she is clearly an artist of major promise.

Otherwise: mostly ABT business as usual. Ross Stretton partnered conscientiously and soloed tastefully as Siegfried and Clark Tippet swooped menacingly as Rothbart. John Gardner made a likable Benno, dancing buoyantly in the Act I pas de trois (opposite Deirdre Carberry and Amy Rose) and the Act III Sword quartet. Danilo Radojevic and Johan Renvall brought lightness, speed and precision to the Neapolitan Dance.

Georgina Parkinson and Alexander Minz gave needed authority to the simplistic mime duties of the Queen Mother and Tutor. Jack Everly conducted with a vivid sense of the contrasts in the score and, especially, its soulful brooding.