Back to the Ballet: The Nutcracker

Now the festive season is upon us, its a traditional time for Hollywood, tv networks and the like to roll out their offerings in the spirit of the season (they have had a lot of Christmas specials on already here - they seem to like putting them on a few weeks early as opposed on to on and around Christmas Day itself as in the UK). The local ballet group - as mentioned in a previous post (about Peter Pan, if you recall) this week staged their version of the Tchaikowsky ballet, "The Nutcracker" - a fantasy tale about a young girl whose Nutcracker present comes to life, is turned into a prince and whisks her off on a fantastical journey. I say it is this groups version in that all dances were 'designed' by the resident choreographer rather than using a classical choreography associated with the ballet. So, was it any good?

Generally, yes, it was. The sets and costumes were fantastic (there were some red dresses at one point that were literally blinding - even from the balcony!), the music was exquisite (Tchaikowsky is a favourite composer of mine) and the dancing was largely very impressive. If there were any grumbles to be had, its that the choreography itself was inconsistent. The latter half of the show has a variety of different dances - with distinct music to accompany each. It all culminates in a grand Pas de deux with the caveliar and Sugar Plum fairy (she of the famous 'Dance Of') which, unfortunately, fell a bit flat here - the music is grand and emotional, and the dancing - whilst technically impressive, just didn't match that emotion. Anyway, favourite dance for me was that of the Snowflakes at the end of the first act - cleverly put together with 16 dancers such that there was symmetry and pattern across the stage - like snowflakes themselves. All in all, an enjoyable afternoon (i went to the matinee performance) if not solely for the music - with the ballet as an added bonus!