Nutcracker at Kennedy Center

[Dale]

The casting has been announced for the Nutcracker run at the Kennedy Center, December 7-11 (the roles listed go - Clara, Nutcracker Prince, Sugar Plum, Cavalier):

December-7 7:30 PM

X. Reyes

H. Cornejo

P. Herrera

M. Gomes

December-8 7:30 PM

M. Riccetto

G. Saveliev

M. Wiles

D. Hallberg

December-9 7:30 PM

E. Cornejo

C. Salstein

J. Kent

J. Carreño

December-10 1:30 PM

R. Pavam

C. Lopez

S. Abrera

S. Radetsky

7:30 PM

X. Reyes

H. Cornejo

G. Murphy

G. Saveliev

December-11

1:30pm

E. Cornejo

C. Salstein

V. Part

D. Hallberg

7:30 PM

M. Riccetto

S. Radetsky

X. Reyes

H. Cornejo

[DancingGiselle]

Is any one (besides me ) going? Or is it really not worth seeing? I'm going more for the dancers than the ballet, but I'd love to hear a bit about what people think. How does it measure up against other Nutcrackers?

I just looked at the Kennedy Center website, and every single performance (7 total) is sold out. So DC audiences must be excited!

[kfw]

I'll be at the December 11 matinee, and I too would love to know what ABT fans and others think of this Nutcracker.

[koshka]

I posted as its own thread but I'll add here:

I have a single front row center (3 seats to the right of the conductor) ticket for the Sun Dec 11 matinee that I can't use. PM me quickly if you're interested--I'm leaving town on Friday...

The price of the ticket was $82 but at this point I'm entertaining any reasonable offer...

[DancingGiselle]

I'm going opening night (Dec. 7) with a friend. I doubt I'll be very critical of the performance -- I've always thought of Nutcracker as a ballet just to enjoy rather than critique -- but we'll see...

[jllaney]

Gomes and Cornejo!!! Lucky, lucky, lucky!!!!!!

[Juliet]

Any reports? Or are you all still in shock....

[Dale]

A change of cast for tonight (Part in for Wiles):

December 8

7:30 PM

M. Riccetto

G. Saveliev

V. Part

D. Hallberg

[Natalia]

Thanks, Dale. I may have to get myself over to the Kennedy Center, after all. Not that I don't love Wiles (I do - everyone knows) but Part is truly exceptional in the Russian classics.

[Leigh Witchel]

Part is truly exceptionaly in the Russian classics.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No disagreement about Part, Natalia. . .but have you seen this version? Just wanted to make sure you were ready something neither Russian nor incredibly classical!

[Natalia]

Oh, I saw it during its premiere season, Leigh. That's why you may have noticed that I was not planning to attend, until I saw Dale's posting. I distinctly remember the chugging choo-choo train on the proscenium & those unicorns.

I would have purchased a ticket for Sunday's ABT matinee (Part's earlier-scheduled appearance) but did not because I already had a ticket to the Kirov's Yevgenia Obraztsova's own Sugar Plum at Baltimore Ballet, also on Sunday afternoon.

[DancingGiselle]

Hi every one,

As I mentioned earlier, I saw the opening night performance (Dec. 7). Those of you who have seen ABT's Nutrcacker are right to be wary; I’m sure that it has not improved very much since it first premiered. The unicorn that randomly parades through the act II divertissements was annoying at best – whoever thought that it would be a fun and interesting addition to the production should be shot (or at least given a severe reprimand)!

Anyway, in order to present my thoughts in a somewhat coherent manner, here’s my somewhat organized review:

ACT I

The ballet opens with Drosselmeyer (behind a rather pretty scrim) packing away toys in a large chest to give to children at the party. He is surrounded by five fairies – they seem to have no real role in the production but reappear periodically throughout it (esp. in act II).

The next scene shows Clara playing with her dolls right before the party begins. She is alone on stage until her brother appears and then they make shadow puppets (I thought that was very cute). Clara was danced rather convincingly by Xiomara Reyes, who is not much taller than most of the actual children who appeared in the party scene! Her brother was played by a young dancer, probably from a local ballet school (the program lists the children but does not mention their affiliation). There were about 15 children all together in the first act (plus the mice – or rats? I didn’t read the program carefully enough to determine exactly what kind of rodents they were). They were decent enough, but they were given almost no choreography! There was a lot of running around and greeting each other, but that’s about it – for both the children and the adults. Even Clara hardly danced (she had a small solo when Drosselmeyer handed her the Nutcracker) – despite the fact that ABT casts perfectly capable adults (as opposed to young dance students) in the role! In general, a lot of good music in the first act was left unused. There were only about 5-6 adult couples, which made the stage feel very empty, even when they were dancing.

The children’s dancing was limited to the march (is there a more specific name for that piece of music?), but it was quite underwhelming. The girls and boys formed two separate lines facing each other. The girls had their backs to the audience, so they completely blocked my view (I was sitting in quite close), and I didn’t even see much of the choreography.

Drosselmeyer (Victor Barbee) presented three mechanical toys: a doll of some sort, a soldier, and a unicorn (no – not the same unicorn that runs around in act II!). Craig Salstein danced the soldier solo amazingly well; he combined the mechanical movements with beautiful jumps and received the night’s first round of enthusiastic applause (as opposed to polite applause). The unicorn and the doll danced decently but certainly not memorably. I forget who danced the former, but Misty Copeland danced the latter. The girl has great technique, but – forgive me for what I am about to write – a chest as large as hers just does not look good on a dancer! It certainly distracted me from her dancing (and I’m female).

Moving on to the soldiers-mice/rats showdown. I don’t have much to say about it because no parts of it were particularly exciting. The soldiers just bumbled about while the mice/rats seemed well positioned to defeat them – at one point a mouse/rat single-handedly held back the entire toy soldier army! And then, inexplicably, all of the soldiers and mice/rats fled (along with the toys from under the Christmas tree). The Nutcracker (who had appeared earlier) stabbed the mouse/rat king, and that was that.

The ballet did start to get interesting at this point. Herman Cornejo (who danced the Nutcracker) did all that he could with the role; he performed his trademark jumps and leaps even while wearing the Nutcracker head (I assume it’s a difficult to dance with it on!). After the battle was over, Clara and the Nutcracker were left alone on stage; a few minutes into a pas de deux of sorts she removed the Nutcracker head. I though the entire dance was lovely but it did leave me puzzled as to what it was trying to accomplish. It seemed too romantic for the Nutcracker-Clara relationship! Or am I just too used to watching Nutcrackers in which Clara is danced by an actual child enamored with the Nutcracker in a far less romantic sort of way?

The snow scene followed the Clara-Nut pdd. The costumes in it were absolutely gorgeous; they were white with a touch of silver sparkles, and the skirts were wonderfully fluffy and reached a little bit past the knees. The choreography wasn’t super creative (none of it in this ballet was!) but it worked very well. The snowflakes did indeed look like actual snowflakes twirling in the air, which is a feeling I hardly ever get from the Nutcracker. Veronika Part made an appearance as the snow queen but was on stage for a far too short period of time! I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen her, but I know how much BalletAlert loves her, and I can understand why. She is regal and elegant, even imposing (it helped that she is about a head taller than Xiomara Reyes). I hope to get a chance to see her in some meatier roles.

Well, that’s act I, and I unfortunately have to turn my attention to other matters for the moment. In general, act I didn’t succeed in conveying the magic that I associate with the Nutcracker, but all of the dancers who mattered – Reyes, Cornejo, Part – were well worth watching.

To be continued… (I enjoyed act II quite a bit more than act I, prancing unicorn and all)