Updating The Nutcracker and Swan Lake for Boston Audiences

Swan Lake is so iconic and many choreographers have given it their own spin. How did it feel to premiere a version of your own? What makes your production unique? 

I talked a lot about Swan Lake with Rudolf Nureyev. He did two major versions, one for Vienna in 1965 and one for Paris Opera Ballet in 1990. It’s very interesting to compare notes and look at others. The Russians have a happy ending where Siegfried and Odette are reunited in heaven. For my version, I wanted Siegfried’s regret to overtake him. He loved Odette and nothing matters to him anymore. He follows her into the lake and drowns, so it’s a tragic and beautiful ending of true love.

I didn’t want to change things for the sake of changing. I wanted to curate it for today. I took one intermission out and shortened the fourth act to 18 minutes, making it more bite-sized. I also evaluated what really survived from the original version, like the second act created by Lev Ivanov, which is a masterpiece of the corps de ballet. Additionally, part of the story is about Rothbart kidnapping women and turning them into swans. There wasn’t a clue about that in the rest of the production, so I added a prologue where you see the abduction of Odette.

For both The Nutcracker and Swan Lake, you tapped Robert Perdziola to design the scenery and costumes. What was the collaborative process like each time?

We were so lucky to get Robert. He’s one of the best designers working today. For THE NUTCRACKER, we hit it off and I immediately sensed he understood classicism. We talked about what I envisioned, and he knew what I meant. It was an incredible process, and there were surprisingly few revisions. He brought such a beauty into the production.

We then embarked on SWAN LAKE and the collaborative process felt very comfortable because there was so much trust at that point. I told him when I think of Swan Lake, I think of four paintings for each act. I wanted to keep it abstract. When I work with designers and tell them what I envision, I don’t want them to come back with exactly what I said. I want them to come with extra magic and special ideas, so I have choices. Robert does that. He’s a dream come true.