[This is my review of the Joffrey Ballet's Nutcracker for KDHX-FM.]
"It's that time of year", according to the lyrics of "The Christmas Waltz", "when the world falls in love". If that's so, then one of the things the world falls in love with would be Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker.
A quick glance at the KDHX arts and events calendar shows at least three different production in the coming weeks, plus one spoken word adaptation of E.T.A. Hoffman's original tale.
From 1989 through 2001, though, the biggest Nutcracker of them all was the one hosted by the Fox Theatre. It originally featured the State Ballet of Missouri (now Kansas City Ballet) and then (from 1997 to 2001) Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal. This year [December 5 - 9, 2007] the Fox and Dance St. Louis have brought The Nutcracker back with a bang in the form of the 1987 Joffrey Ballet production.
Making its first appearance here in St. Louis, the Joffrey production was everything you might expect from a world-renowned company that just marked its 50th anniversary last year. Designed and (with the exception of the "Land of Snow" and "Waltz of the Flowers" sequences) choreographed by the company's late founder Robert Joffrey, the production is of the traditional "story book" variety inspired by the original 1892 production, the 1940 Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo version, and Joffrey's own collection of collection of antique toys and Christmas cards. It was visually stunning - a late 19th-century print come to life, complete with dancing dolls and a 15-foot-tall Mother Ginger. It was also a pleasure to hear, despite the use of amplification, thanks to solid playing by the Ballet Orchestra of St. Louis under Leslie B. Dunner.
All the elements you'd want in a polished Nutcracker were present when we saw the show on Saturday night, including spectacular dancing by the principals and precision work by the ensemble and the various specialty turns in Act II. I was particularly impressed by Kathleen Thielheim and Fabrice Calmels as the sinuous Arabian "coffee" duo and, of course, Maia Wilkins and Willy Shives as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Nutcracker Prince, but the entire cast deserves a hearty "bravi"; no weak links here.
Does the Joffrey Nutcracker signal a return of what used to be welcome annual event? I hope so. Some things are traditional for good reasons. The Nutcracker speaks, ultimately, to the happy child in all of us, and that's someone we need to remember at this time of the year.
Upcoming Dance St. Louis events include the Tania Pérez-Salas Compañia de Danza in January, the St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre in February, and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in April [2008]; visit the web site at dancestlouis.org for more information or call 314-534-6622.
1 comment:
You should see St. Louis Ballet's version of the Nutcracker. They perform every year and are St. Louis' only resident ballet company. The quality was better and the performance more intimate.
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