Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Boston Ballet's The Nutcracker

Christmas is my favorite time of the year.  From the initial meaning of peace on earth and goodwill towards men, to the superficial sparkle of the lights and decorations, it gives me a warm feeling that lasts me through the cold.  It’s no wonder that one of my favorite ballets is the Nutcracker.  After seeing Boston Ballet’s this past weekend, I love it even more.

My boyfriend and I braved the slushy and icy roads to get to the Boston Opera House on Sunday morning.  The gray weather had no effect on my sparkling excitement.  When the overture began my heart raced, and I was quickly sucked into the world of the Nutcracker.

I have to take a moment to say a brief word about Clara’s (Emily Hoff’s) feet.  I was in the mezzanine section, so I wasn’t super close to the stage, and I was looking down from above, yet I could see this girl’s feet extended and pointed from there.  The girl just walked, and they were perfectly placed.  Not only that, but her port de bras throughout was truly wonderful.  Such maturity for a dancer playing Clara.  Thank you for becoming the best Clara I’ve ever seen.

In the first scene, I quickly fell in love with Sabi Varga’s interpretation of Drosselmeier.  I’ve seen in so many versions this character portrayed as an older gentleman who has been at times creepy.  Drosselmeier has become this kooky old guy who’s intention is to scare Clara with the Nutcracker in many versions.  This interpretation was playful and meaningful.  He enchanted the street people in the beginning scene with his toys, and enchanted myself throughout the whole ballet.

My second favorite scene (the first will be revealed shortly) has always been the party.  From the gowns of the women, to the ballet-ified ballroom dance style of the adults, I’ve always imagined myself as being at one of these parties in a past life.  The choreography for this scene was amazing, and one of the things I remember telling my boyfriend is that I am always so amazed at the dancers in the background.  There are times where there is choreography that is displayed as the main focus, but there are still people off to the sides.  Most people don’t notice, but these dancers are staying in character, and really acting with their bodies for the entirety of the time that they are on stage.  I was highly impressed with the amount that Boston Ballet had going on in the background.

One of my least favorite things came from this section, however.  The doll that comes to life was really not very well done.  I hate to say it, but Diana Albrecht’s interpretation was not pleasant.  In my opinion, her dancing was choppy- not robotic.  Instead of dancing like a doll, she danced as though she was being shocked by an electric buzzer offstage somewhere.  It’s the only time I had a sour expression on my face throughout the ballet.  A bit more subtle movements would do the section well.

The comedic sections of ballet are always amusing.  The rats provide this on a constant basis during the battle scene.  They emerge to twelve strokes of the clock at midnight after Clara has fallen asleep.  The silly poses in which these rat appear were definitely laugh-worthy.  In this scene, I was also impressed with the soldier boys.  At one point they all did this parallel battements with flexed feet that came just above 90 degrees.  Every single boy had straight knees, were definitively parallel, were in unison, and managed to stay in time while on releve.  To get a group of dancers to be able to do that is a great feat.  It makes me very excited for the future of ballet!

I am now up to my ultimate favorite scene in the Nutcracker.  Even as I think about it now, I am getting “the feels” as the kids call it these days.  The snow scene with the Snow King and Snow Queen (played by Alejandro Virelles and Seo Hye Han) and the snowflakes were beautiful.  There is something so magical and powerful about the music, and Seo danced it undeniably beautifully.  She is the type of ballerina that I love- strong, powerful, but with a subtlety of softness and pristine poise.  Of course, she was only made to look so amazing by the strength and support of Alejandro.  Those lifts-  WOW!  It made me miss my days of taking pas de deux class… 

The snowflakes were gorgeous.  I got the opportunity to watch one of the poor girls fall flat on her bum, due to what I’m assuming was some slippery “snow” that had fallen to the stage.  While my boyfriend told me he lost track of her after that, I watched her dutifully as a teacher hoping that it didn’t affect her.  Boy did it not!  This ballerina came back stronger and prettier than she had started!  This is the sign of true professionalism.  After they left the stage and kept coming on at different points, I was unable to figure out which one she was, but the fact that it didn’t get her off counts, or even affected her and the dancing in the slightest was just a fantastic moment for me to be able to witness.

The Snow Scene is my favorite because it reminds me of snow days when you get to sit by your window and watch the snow fall.  Dance truly brings to life snow to me, since I always watch the snowflakes and think that they are dancing anyway.  To put them into human form is just a more organized version of what they actually are. 

Act II is now upon us.  While it is the most diverse section, I always find it hard to get through.  I space out somewhere between Pastorale and the ending.  This time was no different.  Obviously not the fault of the Boston Ballet.  While it kept me intrigued and more consciously present than any other, it was still a little hard. 

Spanish was right on point- the arm flares and passion of the dancers shone through.  Arabian was slinky and superb with the slow sultry music. Chinese…well, Chinese seemed as though they needed some more rehearsal time to get the timing together.  I was unable to really get a good sense of what they were doing because they were so off from each other.  Pastorale was pretty, but I was more pulled in by the cutest little black sheep in the background.  Mother Ginger was, as per usual, funny and humorous.  Mother Ginger herself (played by Isaac Akiba) was in fine form, and the children were well rehearsed and did a great job!  That back flip at the end by the little girl got its own applause!  Then Russian…Oh, Russian, the manliest/sexiest part of the whole ballet.  Three men showing off how athletic they are with jumps and turns is truly a feat!

The Waltz of the Flowers left me wanting for some reason.  The dancing and choreography was absolutely stunning, and I loved the idea of the costumes with the tiered skirts that were longer European length tutus.  There was just something about it that left me wanting something more.  Whether it was more lighting, a change of atmosphere, or maybe even just adding a little more to the costume, the “It” factor didn’t appear to me.  I do want to express how much I loved the dancing, though.  The music and choreography together made me want to strap on my old pointe shoes and get up there with them! 

Of course the Grand Pas de Deux was beautiful with the Nutcracker Prince (played by John Lam) and the Sugarplum Fairy (Rie Ichikawa), but the ending excites me immensely.  You get all the people dancing at the end in unison.  No crazy choreography, but everyone dancing together to the escalating music just makes you feel good. 

The ending was perfect with Clara waking up and wondering if it was all just a dream.  As she walks towards the end of the stage, she touches her head and realizes that the tiara she received in the Kingdom of Sweets was still on! 

I went to see the Nutcracker a few years ago with my mother.  This was before they had redone the ballet just last year.  I have to say- I love the changes.  The costumes are unbelievable.  I loved the prima ballerina tutus sparkling and glimmering underneath the lights.  The snowflake costumes aren’t overdone, but simple and classy.  As I mentioned earlier, the idea of the flower costumes was very different, but very wonderful.  I loved the new scenery in the beginning with Drosselmeier’s workshop.  I also really liked how they changed the tree.  The bright green really pops on the stage.  I was also impressed by the level of dancing that Clara, and the other younger dancers in the ballet, were able to perform.  The children’s quality of dancing has improved since I last saw it.  All the changes that I noticed were absolutely for the better. 

So thank you Boston Ballet for redeeming yourselves in the Nutcracker area, and easily becoming my favorite version!

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