The Nutcracker Embraces High Tech in Atlanta

[pherank]

A Vanity Fair piece on the upcoming Atlanta Ballet Nutcracker production:

https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2018/11/the-nutcracker-embraces-high-tech-in-atlanta

'Possokhov is following the traditional American story line as laid out by the Christensen brothers in San Francisco (1944) and George Balanchine in New York (1954), though his iteration will be more mystical, celestial, and spooky. “I will have my own details and twists,” Possokhov explains, and “the sets are active participants in the production.”'

[Drew]

Thanks for posting this @pherank . I have tickets to see the new Nutcracker late in the run--and am plenty curious. Apparently it is going to be a high-tech extravaganza with projections/virtual reality effects etc. (I'm picturing something like the Mikhailovsky Cinderella, but who knows?)

The article mentions the aim is to reach children, teenagers, and younger adults weaned on CGI. (Well, that's not exactly how Nedvigin puts it, but close enough...) I love old-fashioned theatrical magic--trap doors with flashes of light and the like--but if this Nutcracker draws great crowds and gets national attention...that's a huge plus for Atlanta and Atlanta Ballet, so I'm rooting for this to be a smash.  And hoping Possokhov's choreographic ideas are as ingenious as his scenic ones.

Definitely happy to read a little more Hoffmannesque atmosphere will be added to the mix.

[pherank]

34 minutes ago, Drew said:

Thanks for posting this @pherank . I have tickets to see the new Nutcracker late in the run--and am plenty curious. Apparently it is going to be a high-tech extravaganza with projections/virtual reality effects etc. (I'm picturing something like the Mikhailovsky Cinderella, but who knows?)

We all hope for the best.  ;)

But it's pretty daring to mess with the Nutcracker season - if nothing else, it should be a spectacle, which kids are going to like. The safer plan would have been to add Possokhov's Swimmer to Atlanta Ballet's season/rep, and just see how audiences take to it. If that comes off well, then move on to allowing Possokhov to redo Nutcracker with added media.

[Drew]

It is daring, but I don’t think there is any doubt it’s going to be a spectacle and I am sure they are thinking of appealing to children. And of course a ton of children will be in it. 

Possokhov’s Don Quixote, which used projections, was successful here last season. That seems to me to augur well too.

Obviously they are hoping for a big splash and a really distinctive production and I guess that comes with risks. But on the other hand one infers it’s still Nutcracker albeit with new ooh and aah special effects added — not, say, the kind of experimentation with modern dance and a new story the Paris Opera Ballet recently staged alongside Iolanta and that @miliosr has recently been describing in the POB forum! 

Edited December 1, 2018 by Drew
typo

[pherank]

14 hours ago, Drew said:

It is daring, but I don’t think there is any doubt it’s going to be a spectacle and I am sure they are thinking of appealing to children. And of course a ton of children will be in it. 

Possokhov’s Don Quixote, which used projections, was successful here last season. That seems to me  to augur well too.

Obviously they are hoping for a big splash and a really distinctive production and I guess that comes with risks. But on the other hand one infers it’s still Nutcracker albeit with new ooh and aah special effects added — not, say, the kind of experimentation with modern dance and a new story the Paris Opera Ballet recently staged alongside Iolanta and that @miliosr has recently been describing in the POB forum! 

OK, I've read Millosr's review, and it was rather fascinating (and amusing), but my brain couldn't make sense of what was going on with the ballet's creative staff. At least Atlanta Ballet likely won't have that same problem. Possokhov controls all things having to do with the human participants (and presumably, Nedvigin). The part I don't know about is how the people in charge of the electronic media rehearse their contribution alongside the dancers and stage actors. There has to be a stage manager to get everything to coalesce effectively, and I haven't heard any details about who is doing what. Is the existing Atlanta Ballet stage manager in charge of Nutcracker production? Or is some other experienced person being brought in to show how it's done this first time? "Enquiring minds want to know..."

[Drew]

1 hour ago, pherank said:

 The part I don't know about is how the people in charge of the electronic media rehearse their contribution alongside the dancers and stage actors. There has to be a stage manager to get everything to coalesce effectively, and I haven't heard any details about who is doing what. Is the existing Atlanta Ballet stage manager in charge of Nutcracker production? Or is some other experienced person being brought in to show how it's done this first time? "Enquiring minds want to know..."

Perhaps we will see more features about this aspect of the preparations--they seem a bit concerned about spoilers given how little of the physical production has been publicized in photos or video. But the company has assembled a pretty high-powered and experienced team that includes people who have worked with Atlanta Ballet before. Though a new production of any kind can take time to settle I assume they know what they are doing.

[miliosr]

On ‎11‎/‎29‎/‎2018 at 4:51 PM, pherank said:

OK, I've read Millosr's review, and it was rather fascinating (and amusing), but my brain couldn't make sense of what was going on with the ballet's creative staff.

If by "creative staff" you mean the technical staff at the Opera, I can say that they worked technical marvels with the use of projections and lighting. Set pieces like the desolate winter, the dark forest and the night sky with the meteor hurtling toward Earth (and obliterating it!) were wonders of technical design.

[Drew]

This local television feature on the production just turned up on my Twitter feed--it doesn't exactly answer @pherank 's questions, but does discuss the physical production a bit. I won't be going until Sunday [insert spitting to ward off the evil eye] one of the last performances of the run; I had hoped to go more than once, but unfortunately, don't think I can swing it. (Then again, I have no idea what I will think of it.)

 

Edited December 21, 2018 by Drew

[pherank]

I'm glad the production is getting TV marketing - I'm sure people will be curious.
Toi toi toi.

[cubanmiamiboy]

I see the theater is one of those surviving "atmospheric theaters", so popular during the late 20's.  We have one down here...complete with a taxidermied peacock and all !🤗

[Drew]

12 hours ago, cubanmiamiboy said:

I see the theater is one of those surviving "atmospheric theaters", so popular during the late 20's.  We have one down here...complete with a taxidermied peacock and all !🤗

Years ago, not too long after I moved here I guess, I wrote in detail about the Fox Theater--which is where Gone with the Wind Premiered. It's wonderful. However, sight-lines through much of the theater are not great (downstairs has very little rake for example), so I have come to be happy the company performs elsewhere for the rest of their season. But it's great to have Nutcracker in such a magical venue.