Ying and yang. Black and white. Good and bad. The push and pull of two complete opposites that are nonetheless connected has long fascinated George Gonzalez, who runs the Angelic Dreamz store in Canandaigua, N.Y. When Gonzalez was considering themes for his Halloween mini collection for the JAMIEshow line, he was intrigued by the idea of a doll taken from the same mold but representing two extremes. And that's what collectors get with Black Swan and White Swan, two different versions of the same doll.
Doll Reader is offering White Swan to readers as an exclusive limited edition of 50. The doll, available for purchase in October, is truly breathtaking. Like her sister doll Black Swan, which Angelic Dreamz is selling, White Swan is based on the ballet "Swan Lake."
"We chose 'Swan Lake' because of its beautiful story and dark undertones," says Gonzalez, who says he is a big fan of ballet, particularly modern. "We also chose 'Swan Lake' because it is a ballet and our dolls, with their incredible articulation, fine lines of design, and mobility, lent themselves perfectly for the grace that is ballet."
Indeed, White Swan looks as though she might dance right into your living room. Like other JAMIEshow designs, she is a 16-inch (41-cm) resin, ball-jointed doll with 19 points of articulation. But she also has some new innovations that doll collectors will really enjoy.
"An added new feature to these dolls is that they have interchangeable feet and come with two sets of feet, one on pointe and the second regular high-heel feet," says Gonzalez. "As a company we are always striving for perfection and design ingenuity. Having feet on pointe that can be interchanged is just one of our innovations. The dolls also wear our new interchangeable rooted wig caps and come with an additional hard cap for wigs. This design aspect is a patented trademark only we produce."
Though the two dolls have the same mold, they are otherwise opposites. As fans of the ballet (or the recent Natalie Portman movie "Black Swan") know, "Swan Lake" tells the story of Odette, a beautiful princess who has been kidnapped by an evil sorcerer, who turns her into a swan. In the ballet, the part of the fair and gentle Odette is danced by the same ballerina who plays the sorcerer's dark daughter, Odile. The vile Odile dresses up like Odette and steals a declaration of love from her suitor. Odette, of course, is the virtuous White Swan while Odile is the daring Black Swan.
“I’ve always enjoyed the story of ‘Swan Lake,’” says Doll Reader editor Kathryn Peck. “It wonderfully lends itself to interpretation, and the costumes are gorgeous. When George approached us with the opportunity to partner with him in offering these two amazing dolls, we jumped at the chance.”
"The way the two are represented in the doll is completely different," Gonzalez says. "The White Swan is dressed in white, which typically symbolizes goodness and purity, and her face-up is also light and soft. The Black Swan is dressed in black, and her dress made of black feathers is coarse. Her makeup is dark, and she has a completely different look than the White Swan."
Doll collectors will agree that these yin-and-yang dolls do have at least one other thing in common: They're both irresistible.
___
HOW TO PURCHASE
White Swan, dressed doll. LE 50.
$430 (USD). Free shipping for US orders only. An additional shipping
charge will be applied to all international orders.
White Swan comes with a certificate of authenticity that identifies her as a Doll Reader exclusive and and will be available for sale exclusively through Doll Reader starting at 12:00 pm (EST) October 3, 2011.
Here is a lovely video which features the two dolls, the White Swan and the Black Swan:
http://youtu.be/3-LiD9xze0k
