Ballet Northwest Presents Swan Lake

Ballet Northwest (BNW), Olympia’s Dance Company, brings Swan Lake back to the Washington Center stage over Mother’s Day weekend. One of the most famous and beautiful classical ballets of all time, Swan Lake includes the famous scenes featuring the swans, such as the precision of the corps de ballet of eighteen swans, the cygnets (four little swans), White Swan pas de deux and Black Swan pas de deux. For these scenes, Artistic Directors Ken and Josie Johnson based the choreography on the original choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. Act one includes lively dances by the people of the town in the village square, and act three is a ballroom scene featuring guests from far away lands.

BNW’s production showcases sets created by Jill Carter who has worked extensively at Olympia Family Theater, Harlequin Productions, and The Evergreen State College. BNW’s costume shop created the majority of the 100+ costumes, with the exception of the Swan tutus, which were custom made for BNW in China. Co-Artistic Director Josie Johnson states, “It is very exciting that we are able to offer this grand production in Olympia. It has been one of our favorite ballets since we premiered it in our second season in 2010.” Co-Artistic Director Ken Johnson added, “To prepare our dancers for this demanding ballet, we’ve been lucky to have several guest coaches in the studio including former Dutch National Ballet principal dancer Casey Herd, former American Ballet Theatre dancer Tamara (Barden) Huth, former Sarasota Ballet soloist Lauren (Ostrander) McArdle, and former Pacific Northwest Ballet faculty member Dane Holman, along with our resident staff.”

Swan Lake begins in a forest where the beautiful Odette spurns the advances of the sorcerer von Rothbart. He delivers a curse that transforms her into a swan whenever the sun rises. Prince Siegfried goes hunting and spies Odette as a lovely swan. He discovers her secret and they fall in love, but Von Rothbart has other plans. Will love conquer all?

The role of Odette will be danced by Grace Collins, a senior at Olympia High School who will be training with Oregon Ballet Theatre this summer and next year. Odile will be portrayed by Ivy Nakauye, a freshman at Stadium High School who will be attending Pacific Northwest Ballet this summer. Prince Siegfried will be danced by Eamon Barry-Ware from Tacoma who will be joining Ballet 5:8 in Chicago next season. Beckham Barehand, a student at South Puget Sound Community College, will be portraying the sorcerer Von Rothbart.

Swan Lake is presented by Capital Heating, Cooling, Plumbing & Electric, Timberland Bank and Fieldstone. Season support is provided by Inspire Olympia, Cowlitz Indian Tribe, and Nisqually Indian Tribe.

Since 1970, Ballet Northwest has been a community-based group dedicated to promoting, teaching, and preserving the art of dance in Southwestern Washington. The company offers educational opportunities for local dancers as well as outreach throughout the community.