Dance She Did It Her Way

By Martha Duffy

The centerpiece of the Royal Ballet's current U.S. tour is a production of SWAN LAKE that in most respects is a genial mess. In the famous "white act," the enchanted maidens dance around in what appears to be silvery decor left over from their Christmas party, all tinsel and discarded trees. But the company does have a genuine Swan Queen: the bewitching French ballerina SYLVIE GUILLEM. At 26, she is the reigning star of international ballet, and it is easy to see why. Tall and leggy, she seems to have double-jointed hips -- her ordinary kick is stopped only by her ear. Onstage she seems radiantly alone. This Swan Queen may be the Prince's fantasy; she mostly ignores him and certainly does not need him to enact her own doomed fate. Guillem holds the stage with mesmeric authority. No romance for her, Tchaikovsky notwithstanding. Guillem is a modern heroine who could perform the role persuasively in a leotard. In fact, theater artist Robert Wilson is only semispoofing when he talks of a Swan Lake in which she would play all the roles. She could too, right down to the tipsy tutor. M.D.