Notes

Alastair Macaulay on SL ("A ‘Swan’ Of Complex Shades"):
There is no sentimentality to Ms. Mearns’s Odette. She doesn’t make the widespread mistake of looking searchingly into Siegfried’s face as he unfolds her at the start of the “White Swan” pas de deux; the drama begins with her reluctance even to meet his gaze. During this pas de deux, however, she takes one fleeting glance into his eyes, and then another, and each is a punctuation mark that perfectly illustrates the gradual progress of what her dancing has already demonstrated. Every time she withdraws from his arms, we understand her diffidence; every time she returns to him, we feel the courage and hope that motivate her.