George Balanchine:
"The Nutcracker"
Royal Danish Ballet
December 2013
Balanchine's "Nutcracker" is back for a second Christmas season. With no less than six casts, even without a slightly injured Alban Lendorf, the company shows strenghts in numbers, but looking carefully it also shows that the thinning of the corps, forced by the cutdowns last year, is too severe. The production also proves that several of the strong young dancers has outgrown their present employ and is ready for more. But block-performances of family-tuned ballets is not the solution for the company.
2013 will probably be the year, where the Royal Danish Ballet reaches its highest audience figures. But the figure comes with an price. The two mega block-runs of Twyla Tharp's "Come Fly Away" and the Balanchine "Nutcracker" fills up to many performances with too little challenges and less meety roles, than what is ideal for a company of the RDB's stature. George Balanchine and - to a lesser degree -Twyla Tharp is brilliant choreographers, but the chosen works are lightweight representatives for their skills. Both works gives fewer dancers meaty roles. Even putting six casts in the leads i "Nutcracker" do not really cover the damages.
It is probably true that Balanchine's "Nutcracker" is the best available, but still, a confirmed Balanchine lover like me, still struggles to commit to the work as the RDB "Nutcracker". It simply checks too fex boxes of the company's skills and personality.
In Act one it look like it could be a good fit. Character dancers, corps and the wonderful children create a warm and magic Christmas. The Drosselmeyer figure is not really fleshed out, but in all it is the RDB on home ground in a beautiful Biedermeyer setting.
But as soon as the decor changes to the snow scene, the bubble burst. There is one simple reason. The decor is so dominating and take up so much space that it hurts the dancing. It is also the part of the ballet, where story telling and dramatic content shots down.
Wellcome to Candy Lnd
In the second act, the designer, Antony Ward has gone overboard creating the Sugar Plum Fairy's domaine.There are nice items, like the bisquit can/Georgian house but the pink tunnel filling most of the stage room, diminishing the impact of the dancing and limits the dancing field.Everything get squized in. The Spanish ensemble consisting of only ten dancers lacks space and the Flower waltz looses it impact.
Only when Hilary Gusswiler enters as Dewdrop with an explosion of speed and big movements, it finally gets exciting. She breaks the scale of the doll house and put Balanchine back in the Balanchine work. An impressive performance.
Gusswiler shares the role with four other dancers. Young and upcoming Ida Praetorius gets her first Balanchine solo here, but allthough her technique is strong, she struggles with the style and makes less of an impact. ABT guest Isabella Boynton, who also dances the Sugar Plum fairy delivers a secure standard version.
When Holly Jean Dorger joined the RDB, the Marcipan leading Shepardess became her first role. She is still doing it, although now it is clear that she has outgrown it. Her dancing is too big for the role and as one of the strongest technician in the company she is now placed as Dewdrop.
Caroline Baldwin appeared miscast as the Arabian belly dancer, but proved the perfect suppleant for Dorger in the Marcipan segment. Nikolaj Hübbe showed his approvement in appointing both American girls to soloists, following the appointment of Gregory Dean to principal dancer.
It is good that appointments are back on after a longer hiatus following the lay offs, but I certainly hope that Hübbe has more appointments in his bag. Dorger and Baldwin are both strong dancers with good resumes, but neither has yet shown real dramatic skills which is a must in RDB, should they aspire to the principal level. The other girls mentioned above and Jon Axel Fransson, who is back in strongest form after an injury and who took over "Pas de Classique" from Alban Lendorf resently and shoon in Candy Can's, have all proved their potential and on a broader scale.
The Main Event
I have so far seen three of the six casts. The first night was cancelled due to a severe winter storm and flooding, so i have missed the Gudrun Bojesen/Ulrik Birkkjær cast. The two other casts Susanne Grinder and Jonathan Chmelensky and guest Isabella Boynton with Marcin Kupinski all performed on a good professional level. The balance was different in third cast. Gregory Dean may not be as much a virtouso as Kupinski and Chmelensky, but he is an outstanding danseur noble and he moved the performance to a higher level including giving Amy Watson attentive support and strong partnering. He ruled the roost and created the atmosphere and his appointement to principal, which he gets after developing a strong dramatic skillset, is not only deserved. It is needed for the company.
A fairytale must have a happy ending. Seing Dean get the full appriciation not only from his boss, his co-workers and the full audience created that.
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