Supporting Players Give ‘Swan’ Its Grace

When corps dancers outdance the stars and soloists ranked above them, you conclude that a company has outgrown its institutional hierarchy and needs reconfiguration. That happened Tuesday with Joakim Stephenson’s sizzling performance as Rothbart in the Royal Swedish Ballet “Swan Lake,” and it happened again in the same ballet on Wednesday, when Tim Matiakis moved up from the corps to dance the Jester with a new slate of principals at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

“Swan Lake” jesters are supposed to act brainless, woo one of the Pas de Trois women and perform fancy turns at every opportunity. Matiakis did it all with limitless reserves of energy, charm and technical brilliance. Plus he got laughs--something that “Swan Lake” jesters somehow never do. And, along the way, he set a standard of excellence that none of his colleagues surpassed.

The polished, musical Judith Simon certainly had her moments, both as a mature, convincingly sorrowful Odette and a sharp-edged tease of an Odile. But this Swan Queen tended to become invisible in the last act, and her highly ambitious fouette and pirouette combination in the Black Swan coda unraveled anticlimactically.

Christian Rambe, Eugenia Bolander and Jenny Westring displayed great freshness, vivacity and fine training in the Pas de Trois without eclipsing their opening-night counterparts. Similarly, Mats Lindstrom lacked the technical arsenal to match his predecessor’s impact as Rothbart, but capitalized effectively on his dramatic authority.

As Siegfried, Olof Westring partnered conscientiously if not always effortlessly, danced his solos stylishly, notwithstanding periodic technical lapses, but made the character into a callow, narcissistic ninny. Emergency coaching is definitely needed before someone with the potential to become a major artist turns into just another Swedish meatball. Renat Salvatov again conducted.

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* The Royal Swedish Ballet dances “Swan Lake” with alternating casts tonight and Saturday at 8 p.m. At 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, the company performs a four-part program drawn from the repertory of Les Ballets Suedois. Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. $10-$68. (714) 556-ARTS.