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Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2011 > December > 05 > Entry
Review: Ballet Austin’s “The Nutcracker”
I’ve seen (and been in) more Nutcrackers than I can count. But I experienced a first Saturday at the opening night of Ballet Austin’s 49th annual production of “The Nutcracker” at the Long Center — seeing the much-beloved ballet with someone who had never seen it before. Ever. In fact, he’d never even seen live classical ballet before.
“The Nutcracker” is oftentimes touted as the great introductory ballet for those who have no or limited knowledge of dance of the classical variety. I believe this is the case for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, at only two acts, it is a relatively short ballet, with a run time of something around two hours; Ballet Austin’s version, with choreography by Artistic Director Stephen Mills and set to Tchaikovsky’s 1892 score performed live by the Austin Symphony, is no exception. Many more of the classics, such as “Swan Lake” and “Sleeping Beauty,” are three-act ballets (in the case of “Beauty,” the addition of a prologue takes the run time up to around three-plus hours, making it a long haul for those who aren’t ballet aficionados).
Secondly, the story-telling aspect is absolutely key to “The Nutcracker”; the first scene of Act I, which portrays a Christmas Eve party, largely consists of pantomiming, rather than dancing. It’s not until the last minutes of Act I, when the Snow Queen and King take the stage along with the ballet corps of snowflakes, that the real dancing begins. Act II continues the dancing, with solos, pas de deuxs and group numbers. The structure of the ballet perhaps makes it easier for youngsters to ease into it, who can be inclined to ask during ballet performances, “Why isn’t anyone talking?” (My own sister is guilty as charged — with a tug of Mom’s sleeve, she asked this question when she was five at a screening of “George Balanchine’s ‘The Nutcracker.’”)
While my companion for the evening was someone who has seen quite a bit of dance (especially in his capacity as a flamenco guitarist), he had never before experienced “The Nutcracker.” At the conclusion of the first act — which features polished performances by students from the Ballet Austin Academy, including Blake Cooper and Peyton Cunningham who share the coveted role of Clara — my companion was eager to experience Ballet Austin’s professional dancers’ performances in the second act.
Preston Andrew Patterson, who led the boisterous Russian dance with unparalleled energy, garnered the most applause of any dancer the entire evening for his explosive jumps and clean turns. Oren Porterfield’s spry performance in the whimsical French dance was one of the more technically challenging.
At times, however, the orchestral work outshone the dance, as climactic moments were achieved aurally with the music but not visually with the choreography (or with the dancers’ interpretations of said choreography, such as in the Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavalier’s pas de deux, which fell flat).
Audiences at “The Nutcracker” tend to be more varied than for any other ballet — from bunheads to proud parents, aficionados to first-time viewers, “The Nutcracker” brings people together to experience a holiday tradition.
Ballet Austin’s “The Nutcracker” continues through Dec. 23. See www.balletaustin.org for tickets.
Claire Christine Spera is an American-Statesman freelance arts critic.
Comments
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By Karen Gilbert
December 5, 2011 2:42 PM | Link to this
My daughter and I went to a Sunday matinee performance several years ago, at the Paramount. It was horrible. The lead dancer (Clara) actually fell down. The Sugar Plum Fairy portion of the ballet was left out entirely. Plus, since it was a Sunday afternoon, there was one obnoxious whiney child whose parents moved into the row behind us (not their purchased seats) at intermission. The parents let her wander the row at will, grizzling and spreading stickiness in her wake. Ugh. And lighting canisters were set on the balcony railing, ruining our otherwise wonderful seats by impeding some of our view. Altogether a miserable experience.
On a more positive note, “Romeo & Juliet” is also a good ballet with which to introduce young lads to ballet. There’s swordplay in it, which they seem to find quite enchanting.