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Once more into the land of Candy Canes and Dew Drops
Pennsylvania Ballet's "The Nutcracker'
Some things never get old, and ballet's The Nutcracker is one of these imperishable goods. At the Pennsylvania Ballet's opening night performance (actually the third time the ballet had been performed that day, after a morning performance at 11 a.m., and a 3 p.m. matinee), every seat from the orchestra to the top balcony appeared to be full. Out in the lobby, the Sugar Plum Fairy smiled graciously as children climbed into her lap to have their picture taken. The Mouse King was available at intermission for more photos.
No one would be more surprised than Tchaikovsky himself to find Nutcracker becoming such a holiday tradition. The production wasn't considered a success when it opened in St. Petersburg in 1892. Too lavish, too many kids, and just too much of everything was the general view.
Luckily one of the participating children, George Balanchine, went on to a long career as a choreographer and artistic director of his own New York City Ballet, and he personally revived the Nutcracker tradition with a staging for his company and school of dance that has become the gold standard for this classic.
Three authorized companies
Anyone can stage a Nutcracker performance. All you need is the Tchaikovsky score and some imagination. There's a Maurice Sendak-designed version in Seattle; the Pennsylvania Ballet's Rock School of Dance sets its student Nutcracker production in Philadelphia 1776; and there are many more. But if you want to see a Nutcracker as close to the original St. Petersburg version as is possible you need to see Pennsylvania Ballet's production. Our local troupe is one of only three companies worldwide authorized to perform the Balanchine Nutcracker. (Balanchine's own New York City Ballet and the Miami City Ballet are the others.)
It was terrific to see William DeGregory— former Pennsylvania Ballet principal dancer, now director of Penn Ballet II— performing the role of Herr Drosselmeier, the semi-threatening gentleman with the eye patch and cape who presents the young heroine Marie with a nutcracker. Retirement hasn't impaired any of DeGregory's performing abilities. He can mop up the stage as a dance actor with the best of them.
As Marie, little Stephanie Bandura conveyed as much poise and confidence as the party scene adults. Marie's rambunctious brother Fritz was performed by spunky little Lucas Tischler, who gleefully smashed Marie's prized Christmas gift of the nutcracker.
Technically superb snowstorm
By the end of the first act, the nutcracker gift has evolved from a small wooden object into a small prince, in this case a gallant and very stage savvy young Peter Weil. The little prince and Marie escape an attack by the Mouse King and his army, and disappear in a snowstorm of beautiful, and technically superb, dancing snowflakes accompanied by the orchestra and the Philadelphia Boys Choir. For sheer stage beauty, this is one of the production's most goose-bumping, tear-inducing sections.
Act Two finds Marie and her Prince in the Land of Sweets. Here the little couple is entertained with a banquet of dance, presented by all the many inhabitants of this wondrous realm.
Tiny angels glide across the stage, heralding the arrival of Sugar Plum Fairy Julie Diana, who leads them off to her enchanted realm. Marie and her Prince are placed on a throne made out of candy in a hall lined with candy cane pillars, where they can watch an entertainment presented for the young prince and his princess's amusement.
Beverages on parade
This show-within-a-show begins with a serving of Hot Chocolate spiced with Spanish flamenco. Barette Vance and James Ihde, who led this variation, were excellent. Coffee percolated next, with Meredith Reffner outstanding in the near-contortionist, slinky Middle Eastern-style solo. Reffner got it all perfect, down to the last flirtatious gesture to the audience. Naturally, Coffee was followed by Tea, with Francis Veyette excellent as the Oriental gentleman accompanied by two charming ladies.
Next came the sweet stuff: Candy Canes, with Jermel Johnson polishing off the solo pyrotechnics involved in dancing with, jumping through, and waving a red-and-white-striped hoop while a bunch of other hoopsters danced behind him. Abigail Mentzer was excellent leading the Marzipan Shepherdesses in their sweet variation.
Nicholas Sipes got the comic character part of Mother Ginger, a huge figure who sashays onstage and opens her/his flounced skirt to release eight Polichinelles, little dancing children sashaying around the stage.
A demanding pas de deux
Amy Aldridge was superb as Dew Drop, the solo at the center of the Waltz of the Flowers. Aldridge's movements were crisp and sharply executed, yet responsive to the music.
The grandest actual ballet dancing in Nutcracker is a very demanding romantic pas de deux that closes out the performance. As the Tchaikovsky music soared, the Sugar Plum Fairy, Julie Diana, and her Cavalier, Zachary Hench, were breathtaking, flying around the stage, reaching toward one another with floating arms, catching each other in precarious leaps, and conveying a sense of ecstasy while overhead our young prince and princess sailed back to real life.
As the inhabitants of the Land of Sweets came back onstage to wave goodbye, the applauding audience lingered, especially the children, seeming reluctant to step outside this colorful theatrical realm and back into the cold dark December night. I couldn't blame them.
No one would be more surprised than Tchaikovsky himself to find Nutcracker becoming such a holiday tradition. The production wasn't considered a success when it opened in St. Petersburg in 1892. Too lavish, too many kids, and just too much of everything was the general view.
Luckily one of the participating children, George Balanchine, went on to a long career as a choreographer and artistic director of his own New York City Ballet, and he personally revived the Nutcracker tradition with a staging for his company and school of dance that has become the gold standard for this classic.
Three authorized companies
Anyone can stage a Nutcracker performance. All you need is the Tchaikovsky score and some imagination. There's a Maurice Sendak-designed version in Seattle; the Pennsylvania Ballet's Rock School of Dance sets its student Nutcracker production in Philadelphia 1776; and there are many more. But if you want to see a Nutcracker as close to the original St. Petersburg version as is possible you need to see Pennsylvania Ballet's production. Our local troupe is one of only three companies worldwide authorized to perform the Balanchine Nutcracker. (Balanchine's own New York City Ballet and the Miami City Ballet are the others.)
It was terrific to see William DeGregory— former Pennsylvania Ballet principal dancer, now director of Penn Ballet II— performing the role of Herr Drosselmeier, the semi-threatening gentleman with the eye patch and cape who presents the young heroine Marie with a nutcracker. Retirement hasn't impaired any of DeGregory's performing abilities. He can mop up the stage as a dance actor with the best of them.
As Marie, little Stephanie Bandura conveyed as much poise and confidence as the party scene adults. Marie's rambunctious brother Fritz was performed by spunky little Lucas Tischler, who gleefully smashed Marie's prized Christmas gift of the nutcracker.
Technically superb snowstorm
By the end of the first act, the nutcracker gift has evolved from a small wooden object into a small prince, in this case a gallant and very stage savvy young Peter Weil. The little prince and Marie escape an attack by the Mouse King and his army, and disappear in a snowstorm of beautiful, and technically superb, dancing snowflakes accompanied by the orchestra and the Philadelphia Boys Choir. For sheer stage beauty, this is one of the production's most goose-bumping, tear-inducing sections.
Act Two finds Marie and her Prince in the Land of Sweets. Here the little couple is entertained with a banquet of dance, presented by all the many inhabitants of this wondrous realm.
Tiny angels glide across the stage, heralding the arrival of Sugar Plum Fairy Julie Diana, who leads them off to her enchanted realm. Marie and her Prince are placed on a throne made out of candy in a hall lined with candy cane pillars, where they can watch an entertainment presented for the young prince and his princess's amusement.
Beverages on parade
This show-within-a-show begins with a serving of Hot Chocolate spiced with Spanish flamenco. Barette Vance and James Ihde, who led this variation, were excellent. Coffee percolated next, with Meredith Reffner outstanding in the near-contortionist, slinky Middle Eastern-style solo. Reffner got it all perfect, down to the last flirtatious gesture to the audience. Naturally, Coffee was followed by Tea, with Francis Veyette excellent as the Oriental gentleman accompanied by two charming ladies.
Next came the sweet stuff: Candy Canes, with Jermel Johnson polishing off the solo pyrotechnics involved in dancing with, jumping through, and waving a red-and-white-striped hoop while a bunch of other hoopsters danced behind him. Abigail Mentzer was excellent leading the Marzipan Shepherdesses in their sweet variation.
Nicholas Sipes got the comic character part of Mother Ginger, a huge figure who sashays onstage and opens her/his flounced skirt to release eight Polichinelles, little dancing children sashaying around the stage.
A demanding pas de deux
Amy Aldridge was superb as Dew Drop, the solo at the center of the Waltz of the Flowers. Aldridge's movements were crisp and sharply executed, yet responsive to the music.
The grandest actual ballet dancing in Nutcracker is a very demanding romantic pas de deux that closes out the performance. As the Tchaikovsky music soared, the Sugar Plum Fairy, Julie Diana, and her Cavalier, Zachary Hench, were breathtaking, flying around the stage, reaching toward one another with floating arms, catching each other in precarious leaps, and conveying a sense of ecstasy while overhead our young prince and princess sailed back to real life.
As the inhabitants of the Land of Sweets came back onstage to wave goodbye, the applauding audience lingered, especially the children, seeming reluctant to step outside this colorful theatrical realm and back into the cold dark December night. I couldn't blame them.
What, When, Where
Pennsylvania Ballet: The Nutcracker. Music by Tchaikovsky; choreography by George Balanchine. Through December 31, 2009 at Academy of Music, Broad and Locust Sts. (215) 551-7000 or www.paballet.org.
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