The magic of ballet is the effortless way it appears onstage. Watching a performance onstage can take the audience to a mystical place where anything is possible, and dancers float and fly as naturally as walking down the street. The reality, however, is much different, and based in extremely hard work and dedication spanning decades of artists’ lives. The new documentary film, Swan Song, follows acclaimed ballerina Karen Kain, as she stages a new version of Swan Lake for The National Ballet of Canada, where she was Artistic Director from 2005-2021.
Kain was scheduled to retire in 2020, restaging Swan Lake as her last work for the company, for which she danced from 1969-1997. Due to the pandemic upending live theater for so long, Kain agreed to stay on and see this production through before she retired, For this version, she worked with choreographer Robert Binet to bring a sense of newness and youth to the production, as she states in the film. Kain herself is not a choreographer but relished in the opportunity to uphold the lineage of this classic ballet, her first time doing so to such a degree.
Kain shares, “I am responsible for Rudolph Nureyev’s The Sleeping Beauty. I’ve been given the authority by the Nureyev Foundation to oversee the staging of that for the National Ballet of Canada, which always made me very proud, because I loved him and he was such a mentor to me. But I haven’t really been responsible for anything else in terms of maintaining its authenticity and its musicality – its everything, every detail of a production – but I I did really enjoy being responsible for it.”
Actor and producer Neve Campbell joined the project as Executive Producer when director Chelsea McMullan and writer Sean O’Neill approached her about it, not knowing Kain was a massive influence to Campbell as a child, having studied ballet at The National Ballet of Canada (where both her stepmom and father still work backstage) before switching gears to pursue acting.
Campbell explains the thrill of joining the film. “I had the great honor of getting to tell the story of someone who inspired me to dance in the first place. Chelsea and Sean didn’t realize when they asked me to be a part of this project that Karen was my idol, and one of the reasons I became an artist. I jumped on board as soon as they asked and was very excited. The dancers are incredible artists, incredible athletes,and their commitment to their art, to storytelling and what they have to endure in order to do that is pretty enthralling.”
The film follows the production as the company regains its footing coming out of pandemic lockdown when theaters were shuttered for months on end. Upon returning, Kain’s vision for the production included some changes from tradition, such as giving the swans a more developed sense of humanity and sisterhood, and eliminating tights for the corps de ballet. While the story of women trapped as swans controlled by an evil man remains, her variations to the tone keep it relevant to the current day.
“I don’t think I did anything unique there. I just made it, perhaps, more obvious. I wanted to make it a little more modern, without losing everything that’s so critical and crucial and divine about Swan Lake in any production,” Kain says.
More significantly, removing tights as part of the corps de ballet swan costume was a groundbreaking choice – and the first time a major ballet company performed Swan Lake with bare legs.
“We were so multicolored within the company that I thought, we can’t keep forcing people with dark skin to wear pink tights,” Kain explains. “It just seems so wrong to me in every way. I didn’t have the ability to change that for other productions. But I did notice when we did contemporary choreography, the choreographers never wanted them to be wearing pink tights. I love to see the musculature and the beauty of their skin. It’s just beautiful, and why do we cover it up? We should be so proud of having a multiracial ballet company with equally wonderful dancers that don’t have to cover up what their skin color is. It’s just not right.”
Kain’s Swan Lake sold out its entire run prior to opening night, the anticipation of both a new production and return to live theater driving audiences. This film is a beautifully engaging and detailed look behind the curtain as one of the greatest ballerinas of all time says goodbye to a lifelong career with a classic ballet, reflecting our modern day sensibilities.
Swan Song is playing in theaters and is available on demand, via Amazon and Apple TV.
By Emily Sarkissian of Dance Informa.
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