the nutcracker

DVD Review: The Nutcracker (ABT/Barishnikov)

December 5, 2012 by 4dancers

by Catherine L. Tully

This is one for the home library. There’s nothing quite like seeing this particular Nutcracker performance–after all–it’s Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gelsey Kirkland, along with ABT members, dancing one of the most famous ballets of all time. The Blu-ray quality and remastering make it a much better viewing than it would be otherwise, given the fact that this was way back in the late 70’s.

Sets are a bit dated and the film quality isn’t perfect, but this is a real treasure anyway. The choreography is lovely and the dancing sublime. I had seen this version when it first came on TV and remember thinking how absolutely delicate Kirkland was as the Sugar Plum, and Barishnikov is always impressive.

I hadn’t seen this version since then, and it was really interesting to see how much choreography has changed over the years. The execution here is clean and sure, and while the lifts and solos may not be as technically complex as most modern-day versions, it’s still a joy to watch.

Was That Original Ballet Hatched or Snatched?

December 4, 2012 by 4dancers

by Risa Gary Kaplowitz

Snow Queen jete2 — DanceVision’s The Snow Queen. Photo by Melissa

A few weeks ago, I found myself watching a YouTube video of an “original” ballet choreographed this year. It had been posted by a small professional company on the West Coast. I don’t remember how I came upon it because the shock that hit me within the first few minutes obliterated any memory of that minor detail.

The ballet that I had found on YouTube was based on the same classic children’s story as the one on which I had based my original choreography for a DanceVision production that premiered in New Jersey six years ago. The California based company had used a contemporary vocabulary, while I had used a neo-classical one. Also, they had commissioned an original musical score, while I arranged classical pieces to create the music for my ballet.

Still, there were undeniable similarities between my treatment of the story and the version I found on YouTube. For example, I had focused on a minor character in the story, and so did the other company. The flow of my narrative differed from that of the book on which it was based, yet the other company seemingly used the same order of events as I did.

Most troubling was how similar the other company’s production looked to the one I designed for DanceVision. The YouTube video showed a digitally animated backdrop to support the storyline, a tool that was not widely used in ballet productions at the time. I used it in my production, well before the highly original animation tool helped garner acclaim for The Royal Ballet’s version of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon. DanceVision’s animator and I painstakingly organized my animated backdrop. I subsequently saw projections very similar to ours in the other company’s production, to which my reaction was one of jaw dropping recognition. One scene in particular appeared to have miraculously flown into their video.

Was it merely coincidence that enabled a company on the opposite coast to produce a ballet twin-like to mine? [Read more…]

The Russians Are Coming: Moscow Ballet’s Version Of The Nutcracker

November 26, 2012 by 4dancers

by Vicki Crain

ballerina in nutcracker — Karyna Shatkovskaya

Without a Sugar Plum in sight, on Sunday, December 2^nd, the Moscow Ballet brings the Great Russian Nutcracker to Rosemont’s Akoo Theatre. The touring company hit North America for a 73-city marathon of performances crossing the U.S. and Canada earlier this month. This version of the Nutcracker story differs from the one traditionally seen in the Midwest. The iconic Tchaikovsky score remains, but instead of traveling to the Land of Sweets in Act II, the lead character, Masha, is escorted by Father Christmas and the Snow Maiden to the Land of Peace and Harmony where Masha turns into the Dove of Peace and is honored by emissaries from around the world.

Karyna Shatkovskaya, 28, will be dancing the lead role of Masha (aka. Clara/Maria). She has won numerous awards including the Second International Ballet Competition (IBC), Kharkov Ballet Competition- at the age of 9 – and the Third International Children and Youth Classical Dance Competition. She’s been dancing with the Moscow Ballet since 2011. 4dancers spoke with Shatkovskaya briefly over the phone, via soloist/Audition Director Svetlana, who served as interpreter. Both dancers admit the touring schedule is difficult, frequently leaving immediately post-performance and sometimes taking up to nine hours to get to the next venue.

the nutcracker ballet — Karyna Shatkovskaya

Even though Shatkovskaya has been performing the lead role in The Nutcracker for years (she debuted as Maria in the Odessa National Opera and Ballet in 2002), she still enjoys it simply because she loves dancing. After warming up in an hour-long class with the company, she likes to get some alone time to calm down and prepare emotionally. No pictures before the show is her only superstition. Joining her on stage will be local kids dancing the parts of Party children, mice, snowflakes, angels and butterflies. Interesting things to look for in this production are three-dimensional, hand-painted backdrops and large handcrafted puppets designed by Russian puppet master Valentin Federov.

For ticket information, visit www.nutcracker.com

BIO: Vicki Crain is the voice behind Rogue Ballerina, an excellent blog that covers the Chicago-area dance scene. Check out her site for interviews, previews, reviews and more, and follow her on Twitter at @rogueballerina

Review: Dutch National Ballet’s The Nutcracker And The Mouse King

September 28, 2012 by 4dancers

by Emily Kate Long

Oh, Nutcracker. Few things in ballet are as adored, as abhorred, as pervasive, as cherished, or as misunderstood. Nutcrackers are often deplored for their lack of plot cohesion (or of plot, period) and lack of originality. Dutch National Ballet’s The Nutcracker and the Mouse King is above reproach on both counts. It is a real story ballet that can stand on its own without needing the Christmas season as an excuse to exist.

This film version was produced in 2011 from a live recording that same year. The stage production premiered in 1996, with choreography by Toer Van Schayk and Wayne Eagling that is tastefully classical while still being excitingly athletic.

Van Schayk and Eagling depart considerably from the traditional Nutcracker story, always for the better. Set in Amsterdam on St Nicholas Eve 1810, the ballet opens in a cozy upstairs bathroom where oft-stilted young Clara, lovable troublemaker Frits, and their frivolous teenage sister Louise prepare for the St Nicholas party. The Party Scene includes some delightfully magical stage effects: a slide projector, a mechanical cat, and a walking Nutcracker doll, all of which appear in huge scale later in the ballet. The dances flow seamlessly as natural elements of the plot and provide a great deal of foreshadowing. The shapes of the choreography are pleasantly surprising, and the crispness of the Dutch style is evident in the dancing of children and adults alike. That crispness carries over to all of the mime sequences, making an already-sensible plot even easier to follow. [Read more…]

Yes, Virginia, There Is A Holiday Ballet Besides The Nutcracker

September 14, 2012 by 4dancers

by Risa Gary Kaplowitz

A few days ago, I asked my students at the first ballet class ever held at The College of New Jersey if any of them had ever seen a ballet before. A few of the females raised their hands. “Which one?” I asked. Three of them said almost in unison, “The Nutcracker.” Then one rolled her eyes and added, “of course.”

I had expected that answer. What other performing arts field has a website devoted entirely to one theatrical story such as the one titled, “Nutcracker Ballet”? The site’s 2011 listing for New Jersey shows at least forty-two productions of Nutcracker. And that doesn’t include productions in the Philadelphia area or in New York City, which are close enough for us Jersyians to easily attend.

The start of the Nut season (as it’s affectionately or not so affectionately called by the dancers who must perform it morning, noon, and night for days on end) is officially upon us. My inbox is filled with “Get Your Nutcracker Seats Now!” pleas, audition announcements, and unsolicited queries from unemployed professional ballet dancers looking to perform in a Nutcracker.

The deluge prompts me to ask a question. With American ballet company directors and boards lamenting the low status of ballet in the minds of the general public, I wonder what would happen if our ballet companies offered more options during the holiday season—the one time of year when both balletomanes and new patrons spend money to see shows. How on earth did we get ourselves trapped in a can of Nuts?

Nutcracker was first performed in Russia in 1892. Based on E. T. A. Hoffmann’s, The Nutcracker and The Mouse King, its premier was not a success. But by the second half of the twentieth century, The Nutcracker had spread from two successful American productions: Willam Christensen’s 1944 production for San Francisco Ballet and George Balanchine’s for New York City Ballet in 1954. Considered the bread and butter of nearly every ballet company, Clara’s journey to the Land of the Sweets brings in the funds to keep ballet companies and their more obscure offerings afloat.

But like real bread and butter, the ballet—of which there are hundreds of versions— is easy to digest but usually offers little substance. Indeed, most audience members leave a Nut performance satiated with enough sugary dancing to last a whole year before needing to see another ballet performance, which is usually The Nutcracker again.

Yet, there have been some interesting versions of late, which may entice their viewers to return to the theater for more ballet sooner rather than later. Septime Weber’s version for The Washington Ballet casts George Washington as the Nutcracker. Those lucky enough to have made it through snow storms to the Brooklyn Academy of Music may have seen Alexei Ratmansky’s magical version for American Ballet Theatre or Mark Morris’ telling of a different part of the original story, The Hard Nut:

[Read more…]

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