Russian Ballet Theatre's Production of Swan Lake

The Russian Ballet Theatre is on tour with their newly choreographed version of Swan Lake. The next performance in the NYC area will be at the Kings Theater in Brooklyn on November 17th, 2019.

I had the opportunity to catch the Russian Ballet Theatre's production of Swan Lake this past weekend at the lovely Nash Theater in Branchburg, NJ.  Everything about the performance offered a feast for the senses. The classical music, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, is rich and engaging providing the perfect canvas for this lush production. Likewise, the set design and lighting took you convincingly from a boggy, moonlit lake to a bright and sumptuous palace ballroom.

The Hungarian Princesses dancing in the palace ballroom

This newly arranged ballet has humor, romance (of course), suspense and most of all exquisite choreography. Standout performances of the evening came from Vasli Bogdan (Von Rothbart) and the prima ballerina, Olga Kifyak.  Other high points included the "folk" style Hungarian, Russian and Spanish dances in the palace.  The impish court jester (danced by Mikhail Ovcharov) was an incredibly powerful dancer and stole many a scene with his pranks and antics!

Seating at The Nash Theater

With hand-painted sets and over 150 beautifully hand-sewn costumes, this was a first-rate production in every respect. Really on par with ballet productions I've seen at Lincoln Center in NYC. The theatrical makeup was done by none other than Irina Strukova, who has also worked on the sets of Crazy Rich Asians, Netflix, and HBO.  I already have my ticket to return to this theater to see The Nutcracker in December!  That production is by The Moscow Ballet.

Prince Siegfried and Odette

The Queen

Visit the troop online at RussianBalletTheatre.com  for upcoming tour dates and tickets.