Christopher Swaim takes his final bow with GISELLE
By Eva Kahn
Christopher Swaim, a multi-faceted dancer with endless lines and a distinct on-stage presence, devours any dancefloor he traverses. Since childhood, Swaim has longed to dance the part of “Albrecht,” the lead male role in the quintessential Romantic Era ballet, Giselle. And Swaim will realize that dream as he concludes his professional performance career with Ballet Austin this Mother’s Day weekend, May 10–12, at the Long Center.
Originally from Bryant, Ark., Swaim spent more than a decade with Ballet Austin, progressing from an apprentice to company member, and he’s developed a loyal fan-base of audience members. Swaim recently shared his thoughts on his final performances and what comes next.
This opportunity of a lifetime, dancing “Albrecht,” is coming at the end of your performing career. With this in mind, how are you approaching this role?
I’m very different from others in that I made this decision [to retire] probably two years ago. I don’t know what’s going to happen when I’m on stage when the curtain’s coming down, but I’m not having any emotional connection to it because, to me, it’s just another day of work. I’m so excited that I’m getting this opportunity that I just want to focus on that.
That being said, how fitting is it that this character, Albrecht, loses his love? He and Giselle have this one last interaction where she, through her humanity, saves him, and he’s left to watch her drift off back into the other world. How interesting is the letting go of this artistic, selfish side of myself? As a dancer it’s all about me — what I want to do, how I want to feel, how I want to be portrayed. Watching Giselle leave the stage while I’m playing Albrecht is like watching my career go away. I know that it will be an emotional thing for me to watch because it’s already such a beautiful moment in the ballet. I think it’s really fitting. The curtain closes on Albrecht. Where does he go from here? That’s the exciting part about it.
What is the process of interpreting the character of Albrecht? Do you look to others for inspiration?
When I idolize a roll that I’ve seen other people do, I wonder how difficult it actually is. Once I’m really in the room, I realize that it may not be as difficult as I thought it was. I pat myself on the back for all the things that I’ve gained through my years of training.
At that point, it’s about putting my own stamp on it and making sure it represents how I want to portray the character. This ballet is so perfectly created to tell the story — I don’t have to work really hard at portraying the character because the choreography does a lot of that work for me. I find myself wrapped up in what I’m doing movement-wise and my body naturally responds emotionally to that. There are iconic moments that I’m trying to add in, but a lot of it is just response. It comes with the physicality of the steps.
Does this ballet come full circle for you? Did you begin training in classical ballet?
When I started training, I was at 8 years old with an academy that was attached to a company, like Ballet Austin is. They actually did Giselle in the first couple years I was a kid. I was onstage as a little “filler boy” in the back of the village scene. To watch the principals then, that was my first experience with a big story ballet.
Nowadays, companies work so much between classical and contemporary, you never know where you’re gonna fit in. I’ve tried to be as versatile as possible, so that whoever’s at the front of the room, whatever the choreographer or style, I’m willing to try. But it is nice to start training as a classical dancer so young and to finish with a classical thing. It sort of does feel like bookends — here’s the payoff of all those years of hard work.
After high school, dancers have to decide to either join a professional company or continue their education. Why did you attend the University of Oklahoma? How has your college education benefited you?
When I was 17 and had graduated high school, I knew that I wanted to do some sort of teaching. I had been training in ballet, and I liked ballet and performing. I was also playing the oboe, so I was interested in music education, too. During my first semester, I was a ballet pedagogy and music education major. About halfway through that semester, both directors came to me and said I had to pick one — it was too taxing on my schedule. At that point, playing the oboe was something that always came really easy to me. I never practiced, I just sort of knew how to be a decent musician. Ballet always felt like something I had to work at. There was a physicality, and a type of physical fatigue, that came from ballet that was more rewarding to me.
In that collegiate program, I was required to do modern [dance] for at least half the time that I was there, as well as ballet. Being exposed to modern and jazz classes, I was forced to figure out how to move my body in a unique way — especially being a very tall, lean, lanky man — and try to figure out how to make modern and more curved lines look good on a body that was more naturally built for more angular things like ballet.
Giselle is a Romantic ballet and a lot of the shapes are very soft and circular. I don’t think I would have the success I’m having with it if I didn’t have experiences with these contemporary and modern works, and teachers that taught me how to use more muscularity in a way that’s circular, round, soft, and flowing instead of being too sharp.
During your time at Ballet Austin, is there a moment you can point to when you changed the most as an artist?
I used to be the kind of dancer who never wanted to perform in the studio. Something happened my third or fourth year in the company where I thought to myself, “I probably won’t get all the opportunities I want, I’m not going to be cast the way that I want all the time, so I may as well enjoy everything that I get for as long as possible, because the next show I could be doing nothing.” I really started to open up in the studio, and I think that made a huge difference in my career. Finding that confidence — it’s okay to embarrass yourself in the studio — really opened up the versatility and casting opportunities for me.
There was a time when we were doing New American Talent/Dance, and the choreographer, Loni Landon, made this piece. She was such a detail-oriented person, and she had very specific movement qualities that she wanted. I remember getting a DVD back from that show, and I didn’t recognize who I was. The movement quality and presence I had on stage didn’t look like “me.” It was one of the first times I saw a video and liked what I was doing because it didn’t look like me. I have to give her huge credit for sculpting something out of me when I didn’t realize she was even doing it.
What are your plans for retirement?
I will be the new rehearsal director for Ballet Austin. I’ll be working with the Academy, the Butler Fellows, Ballet Austin II, and with the company, too.
Will you be performing at all?
I’m done putting myself in high-stress performance situations. I know there will be times when I’ll be thrown onstage for a character role. That’ll be fun because it’s low-stress, and I can have a good time with it. As soon as I am done on Sunday, May 12, I am no longer a performer of ballet on purpose.
Why not?
Physically, my body feels great, and I think that I could go for more years, but I just don’t want to anymore. I am a control freak and I think every six weeks, having to wait to see what I was going to be cast as was annoying because I don’t want anyone else to decide my worth. This company is an ensemble, so I never know where I’m going to fall.
I also had started getting more aware of the fact that I had been so consistent for so many years. I didn’t like the feeling of the pressure I was putting on myself to maintain that for a couple more years. I had danced the part of “Romeo,” which was my ultimate role; “Albrecht” is my №2. At that point, I had been working with the Butler Fellows and Ballet Austin II for about three or four years, and I had enjoyed the hell out of it. It was everything that I had wanted out of life anyway.
Is there anything else you would like the audience to know?
I think the biggest part of my appreciation is that so many times when I didn’t think I was making any sort of impact, I would walk out into the lobby of the Long Center to meet my family and have these people grab me and be like, “I’ve been watching you for years” — these strangers that I know nothing about. They’ve been part of my journey without me knowing, and they’ve been so supportive, and they wanted it for me more than I even wanted it for myself. I didn’t know that people cared that much.
I think it’s really important for people to know that if you’ve ever stopped me to say something, you’ve made such a huge impact on me as a person. It may have pulled me out of a depression I was in or a dark place or may have given me the confidence to keep going because sometimes I just get stuck in my head. Just having someone say something nice to me is huge. That feedback has been invaluable, and it’s stuff that I hold on to when I’m really upset about other stuff in my life. If I’m having a hard time, I remember these people through the years that have reached out, completely unwarranted, and said the kindest, most uplifting things. That should be a big flag to humanity.
See Christopher Swaim’s final performances with Ballet Austin in GISELLE, Saturday, May 11, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Mother’s Day, May 12, at 3 p.m. at the Long Center. Tickets starting at $15 at https://balletaustin.org/performances/giselle2019
