Fandom and Swan Lake

Fandom and Swan Lake

I am an Isabella Boylston fan girl. Boylston may not be a household name, but she dances atop a narrow pinheadhead of the world’s best ballerinas. I check her Instagram feed often to watch videos of her practicing in the studio. And by the way, she has a bookclub that recommends excellent books.

Boylston danced a breathtaking performance of Swan Lake’s Odette/Odile last week with American Ballet Theatre at the Kennedy Center. It’s prohibited to take photos of the dancers, but here’s the curtain just before it rose.

Boylston was swan-like when she played Odette, the swan queen—all fluttering arms and timidity and grace—and she was precise and technically marvelous when she played Odette, the black swan.

An earlier picture of Isabella Boylston.

Swan Lake is a tear jerker, replete with joy and pathos and betrayal, like any good love story. It has a magnificent score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, a composer whose ballet music defines the art.

Here is Boylston practicing one of Odette’s poignant love scenes with Prince Siegfried (Daniel Camargo). In this short video, we hear the accompanying rehearsal pianist, one of those unsung but indispensable musicians who form the connecting tissue in ballet studios.

In performance, this music consists of a lush violin solo with a full orchestra. Here’s the music for that scene played by the Israel Philharmonic (Wolfgang Sawallisch conducting, violin solo by Ilya Konovalov). The violin starts around 1.37 minutes in on the YouTube video, but listen from the beginning so you can hear the harp!

Saturday I am off to London where I’ll be presenting with Amanda Craig, Samantha Ellis moderating, at London Jewish Book Week. We’re at 12:30 PM March 10: Adventures in Exile: Literary Fiction. Please come if you can!

Finally, I share Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s newsletter from this week: Can literature move the needle in an election year? Dolen makes a terrific argument for reading and sharing books. She is the author of riveting historical novels (I loved TAKE MY HAND) and has provided amazing leadership at the PEN/Faulkner Foundation where I serve on the board. She’s on faculty at American University, and I find her inspiring.

With love to you and yours,

Martha