Swan Lake Returns to Pacific Northwest Ballet for the First of 10 performances Thursday at McCaw Hall

“Swan Lake” is almost as welcome to ballet companies as “The Nutcracker,” enchanting audiences, good performances or bad, and giving multiple opportunities for dancers to expand their horizons.

Thus it is little surprise that Pacific Northwest Ballet’s production of one of the most celebrated ballets in the repertory is never far from the stage. Since the current’s production’s premiere in 2003, it has been revived twice, the most recent opening Thursday night at McCaw Hall. It has a run of 10 performances.

It has never looked more splendid.

The ballet has played a central role in the the history of the company in its some 37 years of existence. Four years after Kent Stowell and Francia Russell arrived in Seattle from Frankfurt to take over the struggling ensemble, it mounted “Swan Lake.” The year was 1981. The production was borrowed from Frankfurt Ballet, where Stowell and Russell had been in charge of the company. The remarkable thing about the affair was that it managed to be credible. So nervous was the company about this bold statement that it was grown-up now, it imported two ballet stars for opening night, both newly fired from American Ballet Theatre. They added glamor as well as all sort of difficulties to the enterprise.

Seattle audiences grew up on “Swan Lake,” as it did many PNB dancers. When the Opera House was renovatedto make room for McCaw Hall, PNB chose to mount a new production for its opening gesture. The choreography is, like most versions of the ballet, cobbled together from several sources Most importantly, there are the original contributions of Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, without which “Swan Lake” is not “Swan Lake,” plus the substantial work of Stowell who enhanced and embellished where he saw fit, leaving the genius of Petipa and Ivanov generally alone. The result is a blend of many elements, an organic whole, at once lyrical, tragic and theatrical, even amusing, on occasion. Mime has been reduced to a minimum.

Ming Cho Lee did the decor. PNB has used him a lot, too much really. His set design for “Swan Lake” is serviceable at best, suggesting some grandeur and some magic, with a little stylization coupled with naturalism. Nothing is to be gained by questioning any of its several parts. Certainly, there is plenty of room for the dancing. Paul Tazewell’s costumes are another matter. They are filled with rich color and a myriad of details. In this regard Lee’s sets work well because they are such a neutral backdrop to Tazewell’s flights of fancy. The third component is Randall G. Chiarelli’s lighting design. It is apropos, bright as sunshine or dark and atmospheric.

Six ballerinas will dance the dual role of Odette/Odile and five men, Prince Siegfried. On Thursday, Kaori Nakamura and Lucien Postlewaite took the leading roles. Nakamura is an old hand at this amazing part, and her experience was in evidence. Given the edge and precision of her technique, I would have thought her Odile would have been the more persuasive of the two. It is the rare ballerina who is equally successful in both parts. Technically, she was, predictably, superb, giving a full expression to all the challenges set before her. However, it was her Odette that was more memorable, tender and long-limbed and poignant.

Postlewaite’s Prince was not the usual Prince in that his very youth is so apparent. At first, he seemed astonished to be the center of so much attention. One is accustomed to someone more readily assured. But what made Postlewaite’s convincing was that very freshness, the innocence, if you will. After all, the Prince is only 21. The personality then leads, in Act II, to sheer wonderment at Odette, intoxication at Odile in Act III, and utter despair in Act IV. It is all believable, and one does not often see that change of character. By nature Postlewaite is a lyrical dancer, and he put that natural predilection to good use.

There is no question the most dynamic dancer Thursday night was Jonathan Porretta as the Jester. This is a role he has done before and done brilliantly, consuming the stage with his ebullient technique. He has amazing resources and oozes personality. Olivier Wevers invested a small role, Baron von Rothbart, with as much energy and character as one will ever see. And Jordan Pacitti made Wolfgang a witty character, not too much silliness but enough and just over the top elegance to be funny.

Smaller roles abound. There is the pas de trois in the first act. With Maria Chapman, Lesley Rausch and Benjamin Griffiths, it sparkled. These are all dancers who have matured with the PNB, and we are seeing the results in every performance. Griffiths returned in the third act with Jodie Thomas for the Neapolitan Dance, one of several character dances. It had plenty of flavor and technical assurance. In the Act II, the pas de quatre was danced with genuine aplomb by Nicole Ciapponi, Leane Duge, Abby Relic and Liora Reshef. The pas de trois, with Maria Chapman, Kylee Kitchens and Sarah Ricard Orza, was also worth noting.

the book of eli 1080

The corps de ballet in “Swan Lake” is all important, and my memory may fail me, but I cannot remember when it has looked better, more accomplished, more breathtaking. Russell has been in charge of these swans since the first “Swan Lake,” and a brava to her for her work and skill in making these 24 women seem so as one.

The PNB Orchestra, led by Stewart Kershaw, made his substantial contributions, including the solo trumpet, the solo violin, and all the strings collectively.

There are those who have missed story ballets these past couple of seasons. They will be rewarded next season with three: Jean-Christophe Maillot’s “Romeo et Juliet,” Ronald Hynd’s “Sleeping Beauty” and Balanchine’s “Coppelia,” in its local premiere. Those are in addition to “The Nutcracker” at Christmas. There is also an program devoted to the work of Ulysses Dove, as well as a Balanchine mixed bill (“Serenade,” “The Four Temperaments,” “Square Dance”) and works of Jiri Kylian, Val Caniparoli and Jerome Robbins joined by “Mopey.”