Gorgeous costumes, grand scenery and a cast of 85 \u2014 yes 85 \u2014 dancers from children to the company pros make this a spectacle, as well.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s additional excitement for those of us who have followed Orlando Ballet for years. It wasn\u2019t that long ago that guest artists were needed to fill out the roster for large-cast shows. Now, there\u2019s an embarrassment of riches with enough talent to spread the roles around. Four years after Jorden Morris was named artistic director, it\u2019s both gratifying and thrilling to see how he has built on the organization\u2019s foundations to up its game.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the genre\u2019s most beloved work after \u201cThe Nutcracker,\u201d \u201cSwan Lake\u201d tells the story of young Prince Siegfried, who falls for Odette, a young woman under a curse that makes her a swan during the day. Siegfried can break the curse but the evil Odile, known as the \u201cblack swan,\u201d sets out with all her wiles to make sure that doesn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n
Much is always made of the swan corps, and as seen at the final dress rehearsal, the 18 ballerinas don\u2019t disappoint here. With Christopher Stowell\u2019s choreography, they seem to expand in number as they gracefully fill the Steinmetz Hall stage at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts creating graceful patterns with their motion and beautiful tableaux when they are used as a feathery frame.<\/p>\n The famed \u201cDance of the Little Swans,\u201d with the dancers linking arms as their legs move in perfect synchronization, gets a delightfully precise outing from Maya Fazzari, Kate Gardinier, Renee Shubov and Aria Smith.<\/p>\n But this production\u2019s non-swan scenes are equally as eye-popping.<\/p>\n Orlando\u2019s Voctave celebrates 10 years of making music for the world<\/a><\/p>\n The Orlando Ballet II corps shines in the first act\u2019s brightly executed peasant dancing \u2014 that\u2019s more promise for the future of the main company \u2014 as does a particularly sprightly pas de trois segment with Fazzari and Shubov joined by Thomas Gerhardt.<\/p>\n And the third act, featuring the prince\u2019s engagement ball, is the strongest of the show, beginning with the fantastical costume parade from designers Sandra Woodall and Mark Zappone \u2014 just look at the various headdresses.<\/p>\n Peter Farmer\u2019s set delights, too, especially as it\u2019s a dramatic change from the already spectacular scenes viewed on the stage \u2014 the mysterious lake, the bucolic village square, the formal throne room. The backdrops become their own characters.<\/p>\n But, of course, that would all be for naught if the dancing didn\u2019t measure up. Oh, it does.<\/p>\n Ellie Iannotti, Aria Smith and Alberto Pe\u00f1alver get things started with an energetic pas de trois.\u00a0A lovely princess sextet charms. A group of Spanish-influenced dancers end with an impressive quick-step footwork finale. Tambourine-playing duo Charlie Mellor and Fazzari achieve the most thrilling lift of the show, and listen for the clack of the red-booted heels as fur-lined hats bob.<\/p>\n In the lead roles, Hitomi Nakamura and John Abenanty do their best work in this act. She\u2019s beguiling as the treacherous Odile. Even her impressive spins have a malevolence about them. Abenanty, meanwhile, projects an innocence in demeanor and movement that makes him as tragic a figure as poor Odette. (Note: You may see different dancers in any of the roles at matinee performances.)<\/p>\n I can\u2019t overemphasize how much the Orlando Philharmonic adds to the occasion. Under the direction of Gabriel Gordon, the 50+ musicians create beautiful emotional shifts through phrasing and dynamics. What a pleasure to hear Colleen Blagov\u2019s flute, Haley Rhodeside\u2019s harp and Jamie Strefeler\u2019s oboe clearly in key passages.<\/p>\n This is a production in which everything works together brilliantly to tell a familiar story with new panache.<\/p>\n Follow me at facebook.com\/matthew.j.palm or email me at mpalm@orlandosentinel.com. Find more entertainment news and reviews at\u00a0orlandosentinel.com\/entertainment<\/a>\u00a0or sign up to receive our\u00a0weekly\u00a0emailed Entertainment newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2018Swan Lake\u2019<\/p>\n![\"Hitomi](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/TOS-L-swan-lake-01.jpg\")
<\/a>Hitomi Nakamura and John Abenanty star as Odette and Prince Siegfried in Orlando Ballet’s production of “Swan Lake” in Steinmetz Hall at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. (Courtesy Israel Zavaleta Escobedo via Orlando Ballet)<\/p>\n![\"Renee](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/TOS-L-swan-lake-02.jpg\")
<\/a>Renee Shubov, Thomas Gerhardt and Maya Fazzari charm in a pas de trois in Orlando Ballet’s production of “Swan Lake” in Steinmetz Hall at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. (Courtesy Israel Zavaleta Escobedo via Orlando Ballet)<\/p>\n