Birmingham Royal Ballet Swan Lake Review
September 23, 2026 | Birmingham Hippodrome – Birmingham, England
A few months ago I had the pleasure of seeing Sir Peter Wright’s Centenary Celebration with Birmingham Royal Ballet, honouring the former Artistic Director and the impressive stamp he has left on the company.
The showcase of Wright’s greatest works featured highlights from his production of Swan Lake. The excerpts gave a tantalising preview of the ballet, and I eagerly marked my calendar for its opening night so I could witness it in all its glory.
Swan Lake is a visual spectacle: the company is technically sound, and Momoka Hirata and Mathias Dingman carry the beats of the classic story as Odette/Odile and Prince Siegfried. But by the end of the evening, I found myself missing the emotional impact that I had hoped to feel watching this ballet.
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Birmingham Royal Ballet Swan Lake Review
Like with his other full-length productions, Wright created his Swan Lake with his standard passion for building an immersive, detailed world. It is rooted in the ballet’s rich history, with much of the choreography from Petipa and Ivanov being bolstered by dances from Wright and Galina Samsova, Wright’s collaborator who was also a Principal dancer with the company at the time of its premiere.
The production of Swan Lake opened in Manchester in 1981, before Birmingham Royal Ballet had fully relocated to its current home, and I’m glad it has remained with the company to this day. It is a tragic ballet about love and loss, featuring the iconic musical score by Pyotr Tchaikovsky.
With the score and simple but dramatic story already in place, Wright and designer Philip Prowse built upon these to create a beautiful but eerie setting, with a touch of magical forces at play.
Before the overture is complete, a funeral procession crosses the stage, Prince Siegfried and the Queen Mother mourning the loss of the king. The Queen Mother’s wails set the tone immediately and foreshadows the tragedy that is yet to come; not only has she lost her love – the kingdom is without its leader.
With this scene, Wright establishes the desperate situation and the important task set for Siegfried: he needs to marry to keep the kingdom secure.
This is reinforced later in Act III when they host the three princesses to decide who Siegfried will marry. A massive throne sits in the ballroom, but no one sits in it, not even the Queen Mother. The king has not been replaced yet, and it is Siegfried’s responsibility to assume this position.
These touches, although small, demonstrate Wright’s skill in world-building and attention to detail.
The production design, particularly for the acts taking place at the royal court, is luscious with dark tones and deep, rich colours that match the somber atmosphere. The costumes may be some of my favourites I’ve seen in any production.
Although the design notes are dark overall, gold and silver details feature prominently in the costumes. Even the Queen Mother, always dressed in mourning black, wears a shimmering veil in most scenes.
While most design elements of the production were compelling, I found the design of the lakeside in the second and fourth acts less effective.
When Siegfried arrives with his companions to hunt, he is entering a new realm where magic exists, but to me it felt like the magic dwindled, and the colours were more dull.
Unfortunately, this was exacerbated by the swans’ costumes which, compared to the costumes at the royal court, appeared ill-fitting on the artists. The feathered headbands also sat oddly on their heads. Odette’s costume was an exception, with more structure and sparkle as would be expected for the prima ballerina role.
I know it may sound as if I didn’t enjoy the scenes by the lakeside, but on the contrary, I thought the artists were well organised and clean, transitioning between each vignette smoothly and cohesively. However, I found my attention being torn from the dancing to observe the costumes instead, rather than the costumes contributing to the overall look.
The second act is also when the story picks up momentum, when Siegfried meets and becomes enraptured with Odette.
The score already does a lot of work in translating the characters’ thoughts and feelings, yet what can transform a Swan Lake production from great to outstanding is the acting the artists bring to the table. As Thomas Jung, Principal Guest Conductor, puts it,
“Tchaikovsky doesn’t simply illustrate what is happening on stage. His music tells us what the characters are feeling, sometimes even before they seem to know it themselves.”
The ballet excels when the company can carry the intense emotional beats of the story alongside the music to develop relationships with each other, build the audience’s investment in the characters, and ultimately make the ending more impactful.
I struggled to find that emotional connection watching this production. The story is told from Siegfried’s perspective – he is onstage for nearly the whole ballet – yet I had trouble empathising with him. Because he drives the story, the dancer’s ability to portray his inner thoughts and emotions is key.
Dingman’s portrayal came across as aloof and disinterested rather than lost and alone. His dance with the courtesans in the first act displays the character’s loneliness, but I wonder if the score played a large part in communicating that feeling rather than the acting itself.
I thought Odette’s characterisation was more compelling, and the chemistry between Odette and Siegfried was stronger together than apart.
Hirata was beautiful as Odette, embodying the character’s timidness and quiet melancholy. She articulated every movement with control. Whether it was a frantic flapping of her ‘wings’ or the solemn and slow arabesques, her performance reflected the nuances of Odette’s emotions and relationships with other characters.
Likewise, Hirata’s performance as Odile, Odette’s antithesis, was a distinct transformation. She brought a new edge to her presence, making the movements colder and sharper, and she conquered the infamous 32-fouette sequence with ease.
Beyond the lead couple, the technical prowess of Birmingham Royal Ballet was consistently strong. The solo performances from Benno and the courtesans in the first act set the standard. The three princesses vying for Siegfried’s hand in Act III all had great stage presence. Their judgemental stares at each other when they entered the ballroom added a fun touch of competition and even elicited laughter from the audience.
Act III also saw a triumphant return for the costume design. A decadent red colour palette replaced the blues and greys of the first two acts. Some of my favourite pieces were the massive, ornate headdresses worn by the female Czárdás, and the all-black ensembles of Rothbart’s ‘court.’
Act IV returns to the lake and opens in spectacular fashion with fog cascading off the stage and into the stalls. The chorus of swans then emerge from underneath the cloud coverage, eliciting gasps from the audience. Odette and Siegfried’s sacrifice to live together eternally after death is beautiful, but without the emotional investment from previous acts, the significance just does not feel as strong.
Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Swan Lake is well-crafted and enjoyable to watch. The design is detailed and immersive, and the dancers are exceptional.
But the production lacks the dynamism and emotional presence I was hoping for. Tchaikovsky’s iconic score tells so much of the story already, but it becomes far more powerful when the company can match its pain, passion, and vulnerability.
While already a stellar performance, I believe a bit more edge and a bit more raw emotion would make this production hard to beat.
Featured Photo of Birmingham Royal Ballet‘s Momoko Hirata and Mathias Dingman in Sir Peter Wright’s Swan Lake. Photo by Clive Booth.
