By Brian Gray
While Ballet West celebrates its 63rd consecutive production of The Nutcracker, by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and choreographed by Willam Christensen, the longest running in the country, this was my first. While fairly uninitiated, I had some idea of what I would be seeing and hearing at the Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake City, Utah, from watching various videotaped performance and specials as part of Christmas tradition and of course the iconic music by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. If you are like me and this is your first time experiencing The Nutcracker in its full and magnificent form, you will find yourself thrust into nostalgia of your youth with amount of recognizable songs featured in this ballet.
The Nutcracker is a curious story. While usually celebrated as a primarily Christmas event, there is very little semblance to a traditional Christmas narrative. The only relation the story really to Christmas is that it begins at a Christmas party. Otherwise, there is no nativity, Santa Claus, North Pole, or any of the usual tinsel you would find in a Christmas story. The ballet is adapted from a story by E.T.A. Hoffmann, a German writer who wrote in the early 1800s, the same writer who originally wrote The Sandman (a story about magic, alchemy, and automation rather than the fictional monster portrayed in contemporary literature). This a very special time near the end of the Age of Enlightenment and the beginning of the Industrial Era, when artists were fascinated with science and experimentation. At the same time Hoffmann was writing, Mary Shelley finished her first draft of Frankenstein. The story of The Nutcracker is similar in whimsy to the tales of era, featuring an eccentric horologist and toymaker who creates large elaborate dolls that seem to come to life. The toymaker presents the children at the Christmas presents, including a toy nutcracker shaped like a soldier given to Clara.
As Clara falls asleep, everything grows larger, or, rather, Clara becomes smaller, until she is the size of the nutcracker and the rats that scurry around the house. She awakens to find herself in the midst of a war between the solider nutcrackers and the rats, waged gracefully through various ballet movements until the king rat squares off in a duel with the nutcracker prince. In their sparring, Clara distracts the rat by throwing a shoe at him, giving the nutcracker prince the advantage, striking a mortal blow to the rat. In appreciation for her contribution to the victory, the nutcracker prince becomes human, whisking Clara off through the land of the Snow Queen and King, arriving at the land of the Sugar Plum Fairy where she is treated to an array of divertissements (an array of dances) from all over the world.
The story of The Nutcracker alone is enchanting. Combined with a live orchestra, skilled dancers, delightful choreography, a vibrant set and costume design, the experience become transcendent.
The scenic design, by John Wayne Cook, pops out immediately before the ballet begins. The setting consists of 24 monolithic drops that span the entire stage. The drops change to represent scene changes. As they rise and fall in scene transition, the bright colors and hues of the drops seem to take on an almost animated quality. The effect of the flatness of the drops combined with the illustrations on the drops gives the sense that the dancers are inhabiting a storybook, enhancing the fairytale quality of the production. The drops themselves are not entirely opaque, and thus lighting effects used upon them (designed by Kevin Dryer) create magical illusions.
The costumes, by David Heuvel, transport the audience to the mid-1800s, with ornate period-dress in the first act, and graceful and charming costumes throughout the rest of the ballet. There are several lively visual jokes made with the costumes, such as the military children dressed in the same manner as the military father, or the wind-up doll’s joints. As we enter the land of the Snow Queen and King and the Sugar Plum Fairy, the costumes become more ornate and dreamlike.
Before moving on to dances, it is definitely worth noting the live Ballet West Orchestra conducted by Jared Oaks. While hearing The Nutcracker Suite on the Fantasia soundtrack is certainly special, nothing can really compare the richness and depth of an entire orchestral performance. The music was a perfect complement to dancers, as each note seem to be the force that lifted the dancers through each grand jetés, and holding up the ballerina’s arabesques.
Choosing my favorite part of the ballet would be impossible. Choreographed by the late Willam F. Christensen, the entire performance is extravagant, utilizing the entire stage throughout the performance. The display of skill and athleticism is indeed incredible (I attempted one leap following the performance, and became immediately dizzy). Matching the music, the choreography draws the audience further into the experience of the story. The charm and charisma exerted by the dancers invites that audience to soar with them, and for a moment, you feel momentarily weightless with each leap and lift.
The dance of the Snow Queen and Snow King by Emily Adams and Adrian Fry is perhaps the most mesmerizing, a pas de deux rivaled by the dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier performed by Katherine Lawrence and Christopher Ruud. Of course, the battle between the rats and the nutcracker army is the most whimsical, as the audience is transported to a miniature world in which Clara finds herself.
Of course, there are the divertissements in the second act of the ballet. In this act, we are transported all around the world to Morocco, Spain, Asia, and Russia. Each dance attempts to reflect the traditional dance styles of each region. Interesting to note that artistic director Adam Sklute made some adjustments to this portion of the ballet to avoid potentially offensive use of “yellowface” in the Chinese portion of this act. The enhanced version now reflects the Chinese New Years celebration of San Francisco where Christensen started a ballet company before founding Ballet West.
Of course, Mother Buffoon nearly steals the show. A nearly two-story costume, atop which a dancer gyrates and gesticulates while a bottom portion moves around the stage like a float. Periodically, Mother Buffoon’s dress is lifted, revealing more tiny dancers.
Of course, I could continue ad nauseum about the various charms and delights of this production, but I’m afraid that whatever eloquence I could muster in describing Ballet West’s The Nutcracker would fall miserably short of the show itself. Ballet West’s The Nutcracker is simply extravagant, opulent, incredible, and an overall a feast for the senses. This will be an unforgettable evening.
Ballet West presents The Nutcracker by Piotr Ilych Tchaikovsky, Choreography by Willam F. Christensen, based on the story by E.T.A. Hoffmann
Capitol Theatre, 50 W 200 S, Salt Lake City, UT 84101
Dec 19-23, 26-29, 7:00 PM, Dec 21- 24, 26-29, matinee 2:00 PM
Tickets: $65-$150
Contact: 801-869-6900
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