A hero turns villain.

OLIVIER WEVERS IS TALL, BLOND, and handsome, an aristocratic Siegfried in Swan Lake, a courtly Florimund in The Sleeping Beauty, a noble Romeo in Romeo and Juliet--roles the Pacific Northwest Ballet principal deeply enjoys dancing. Wevers also loves being evil in these ballets--as a power-mad von Rothbart, a vengeful Carabosse, and a bellicose Tybalt. He relishes, too, the cold, calculating Iago ("The Friend") in Jos, Limon's The Moor's Pavane.

"There is evil in everyone," says Wevers, adding that to play these characters, "you have to find it in yourself." The dancer approaches these roles like a "method" actor--not surprising since Wevers was trained in his native Brussels by Nicole Karys, a former member of Maurice Bejart's Ballet du XXieme Siecle, a company famed for its theatricality. "I wasn't taught ballet for just the steps," Wevers says. "We would always talk about who we were supposed to be."

Whether he is dancing an aristocrat or a villain, or both, Wevers puts a lot of thought and research into developing a character he believes in--good, bad, of evil--and considers that character's relation to the ballet as a whole. Tybalt, in Kent Stowell's staging of Romeo and Juliet, was the first villain he portrayed. Asked why Tybalt is evil--a characterization that is open to debate-Wevers responds readily. "I think he's complex, more complex than von Rothbart, for example, and harder to portray, because he's human. But he's selfish in relation to his fellows, and he fights and quarrels. He's hot-tempered, like me."

Wevers' take on von Rothbart as he relates to Siegfried is interesting. "Siegfried," he says, "is sad and unlucky. And, von Rothbart is sad, too. He's a lonely, bitter sorcerer, and in a way they deserve each other. Von Rothbart is evil in his magic, maybe not so much evil as he's powerful. He is in control, not only of the swans but of the Queen."

While he declines to choose a favorite villain, of Carabosse Wevers says, "That's a fantastic role, I love it. She's a fair? turned evil because it's evil to want revenge; and she's a female played by a male [in Ronald Hynd's Seattle staging of the ballet] so there is the gender issue. She's a big challenge because she's the most important part of the story. The pantomime has to be clear and precise." Having established her role in the narrative, Wevers says, he then takes her over the top with the flamboyance of a silent screen actor playing a villain, at the same time trying to make her more credibly human. The dancer also shades his portrayal to complement the way Aurora is interpreted on a specific night. "If the most innocent princess is on stage, if the quality of her dancing is the most innocent, then I create the most evil Carabosse."

Wevers believes Iago is the most evil of his villains. "Iago is in control of his evil craft and the most successfully manipulative."

Asked if he prefers "good" roles over "evil" ones, Wevers responds, "I can't say I like one best. I enjoy anything that has a lot of characterization, needs acting and thought to it. So, I'm happy doing both and would miss the other."