Swan Lake

May 15, 2019
An audience favorite, this ballet is about love at first sight snatched away by sorcery. In her third title illustrating full-length New York City Ballet productions, Docampo re-creates the ethereal setting of the classic tale of a princess turned into a swan and a prince tricked into declaring his love for an imposter. She previously worked on The Nutcracker (2016), that all-time Christmas favorite, and The Sleeping Beauty (2017), an adaptation of a favorite fairy tale. Swan Lake is a staple of many ballet companies and is danced with many different stagings that mix the original Russian choreography and current adaptations. In this production, Prince Siegfried, Odette/Odile, and the wicked mage von Rothbart follow the typical storyline of love and betrayal, ending so very tragically. Ballet is of course a live performance art, and conveying solos and corps movement on a printed page is a challenge. The digital illustrations do convey the impossibly ethereal dancers' emotions, and the large-scale corps movements are strikingly set against a midnight blue stage. Some of the dancers are people of color--as in the New York City Ballet today. The backmatter provides "Fun Facts" and a brief history of the ballet. A good introduction to one version of the classic ballet, one that caregivers taking children to the theater will appreciate. (Picture book. 4-8)

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August 1, 2019

K-Gr 4-In the third collaboration between the New York City Ballet and illustrator Valeria Docampo, this slightly longer picture book portrays the dark tale of the classic ballet Swan Lake. The text includes the full story, presenting the cursed swan queen and her adoring Prince, the evil sorcerer and his deception in the form of the black swan, and the tragic end as Odette remains in swan form forever. It reads as a beautifully illustrated set of program notes for children. The text describes each scene as it plays out in the performance, using descriptive language and complex vocabulary. The illustrations extend to the edge of each page, and though the stage and curtains themselves do not appear, there is the sense that the frame of the pages make up the borders of the proscenium or fourth wall. The dancers' postures are graceful and their faces highly expressive. The paintings are ornate, with lighting that both reflects the ballet production as well as the tone of the story. The multitoned blues of the lake are particularly memorable. Prince Siegfried and Swan Queen Odette are both white while the corps de ballet is diverse. VERDICT A great selection for children preparing to see this ballet in person, or to bring the ballet to the laps of children for whom the live stage is inaccessible.-Clara Hendricks, Cambridge Public Library, MA

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