You may have heard of the most horrid person I ever met, otherwise known as the country girl. Funny, she first revealed herself in church, when it was time to go forward for communion she was afraid to leave her purse in the pew. I guess she feared that one of the doctors or stockbrokers at Cathedral Church of the Advent would steal it. When we were leaving the service, the rector told the pretty girl on my arm what a nice guy I was, just to help out, I guess he was thinking, and she was suspicious and wanted to know if I did something to get him to say that. A person who trusts no one is not to be trusted, as I learned.
To my greater surprise she was revealed again in art. In the ballet Swan Lake, the evil black swan Odile tricks by a deception of identity theft the prince into declaring love for her in order to destroy his love for the good Odette.
When I saw it on stage, it reminded me so much of the way the country girl wheedled, pleaded, cajoled and needled--and when I finally gave her roses, she did like Odile, threw them to ground, stamped her foot and spurned them. I thought I had encountered the most horrible person ever in history in Trussville in 2010-11. But when I saw Odile throw the roses down on stage, I knew Tchaikovksy saw the same person in 1875-76, while he was composing Swan Lake. How scary to think that is an archetype for the ages.
But there is more. In the ballet, the same ballerina dances both roles, of Odette and Odile, emphasizing the duality of human nature. So the composer knew way back then there was a good country girl who was likable enough even as her evil twin was especially loathesome. Though the condition became permanent with the country girl, that means even Bunny (not to mention Scarlet) could turn into a fire-breathing dragon, especially after seeing Wicked, on occasion. That´s why I´m going to try to stay on her good side.
- Signed, the Anonymous Reviewer
