balletomane Posted March 11, 2017 Share Posted March 11, 2017 Kansas City Ballet has been invited to perform Devon Carney's Nutcracker in November at the Kennedy Center. What do people think of this company? I am looking to see a more diverse group of companies than my usual ABT, NYC, PA Ballet, Link to comment
YouOverThere Posted November 26, 2017 Share Posted November 26, 2017 It was hard to get an impression from their performance at the Kennedy Center. The choreography for the most part was pretty basic and didn't provide much of an opportunity for most of the dancers to show their skills. Link to comment
California Posted November 26, 2017 Share Posted November 26, 2017 1 hour ago, YouOverThere said: It was hard to get an impression from their performance at the Kennedy Center. The choreography for the most part was pretty basic and didn't provide much of an opportunity for most of the dancers to show their skills. In the publicity still photo on the KenCen e-mail, a pair was doing the famous torch lift - looks like the end of Act I with snow, etc. Did they actually do that? Link to comment
YouOverThere Posted November 26, 2017 Share Posted November 26, 2017 6 hours ago, California said: In the publicity still photo on the KenCen e-mail, a pair was doing the famous torch lift - looks like the end of Act I with snow, etc. Did they actually do that? Yes. The Snow Queen and King did it. Link to comment
cubanmiamiboy Posted November 27, 2017 Share Posted November 27, 2017 (edited) The dancer playing Sugar Plum Fairy is Amaya Rodriguez, ex Cuban National Ballet Principal. Edited November 27, 2017 by cubanmiamiboy Link to comment
YouOverThere Posted November 27, 2017 Share Posted November 27, 2017 IMHO 4 hours ago, YouOverThere said: Yes. The Snow Queen and King did it. IMHO, that scene, the Waltz of the Flowers, and the Sugar Plum Fairy/Cavalier pas de deux were the only parts of the production that truly required professional dancers to pull off well. This might have been due to the need for some dancers to play as many as 4 different roles in a single performance. Link to comment
maps Posted November 27, 2017 Share Posted November 27, 2017 (edited) delete Edited June 24, 2018 by maps delete Link to comment
theo Posted November 27, 2017 Share Posted November 27, 2017 I was at the Saturday Matinee. I think the best way to sum it up is “good clean fun”. I have avoided going to the Nutcracker mostly because my fear of naughty children in the audience. There were plenty of children, but they were not naughty and many of them were so beautifully dressed and excited to be there I couldn’t help but smile. That’s kind of how I felt about Kansas City Ballet as a group of performers. They were happy to be there; they gave their all and had fun doing it. It did feel however, that in some places there could have been parts in the choreography that may have been simplified for the Kennedy Center run. It almost seemed in some spots, that where there was supposed to be a lift, it became a turn or something else simpler. It was something in the preparation that made it seem that way, particularly with Sugar Plum Fairy/Cavalier. I felt this could have been for the benefit of the dancers who are dancing pretty much non-stop throughout the run. The roles of the Sugar Plum and Cavalier were alternated between two couples. For my performance, they were danced by Kaleena Burks and Liang Fu. According to the playbill, they had also performed Friday evening. I thought they were lovely. For my performance the Snow Queen and Kind also did the torch lift. Overall, I thought the production was lively, appropriate for the times, and my husband and I really enjoyed every minute of it. Link to comment
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