Review: Dada Masilo's SWAN LAKE Sets New Standard for Ballet and Beyond

The house was full on the opening night of Dada Masilo's Swan Lake at the Joyce and I quickly realized why. The ballet boasts incredible energy, attitude, innovation and diversity rarely seen in a typical ballet, all without sacrificing an engaging story and superb technique.

That technique is not limited to the vocabulary of ballet but includes a seamless mix of contemporary, hip hop, West and South African dance.

The ballet features men and women alike in tutus with a bare-headed Masilo as the lead swan-queen Odette and an elegant, male, bun-head as her adversary in love, Odile (Llwellyn Mnguni.)

Elements of vaudevillian cirque are introduced as a narrator quickly brings the uninitiated up to speed with a brief, comedic history of ballet and more traditional renditions of Swan Lake.

This segment is punctuated by Masilo's colorful re-imagining of Swan Lake that follows the story of Siegfried (Songezo Mcilizeli), a prince struggling to come to terms with his sexuality.

Masilo's dancers are just as comfortable high in the air as they are flat in the ground as they rejoice at the prospect of Siegfried's arranged marriage to Odette. That the unhappy prince is merely going through the motions (literally) goes unnoticed by the rest of the party.

Siegfried's mood lifts momentarily when he spots Odile (the only dancer on pointe) as he gracefully prances into Siegfried's life and, all too quickly, out again.

Still not getting the point, a determined Odette tries to seduce the prince with a long but impressive solo only to end up in a ballet pose the narrator would call the "nobody loves me fold up."

This contrasts a touching pas de deux of courtship between Siegfried and Odile leading up to a hilariously crashed wedding. Siegfried experiences judgement and ostracization from his family and peers but, eventually, something shifts.

The two cornerstones of Siegfried's love triangle emerge, both bare-souled and gorgeous, in a sort of spiritual truce perhaps because neither can happily be with the man s/he desires.

Though perhaps meant to enact tragedy, in the final scene the performers on stage seem to transcend their roles and even space-time itself, embodying understanding, acceptance, pain and raw humanity.

One can't help but offer a standing ovation to the bravery and ingenuity of a true artist and her incredible team.

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